Batting legend Sunil Gavaskar believes India will not be able whitewash Australia away from home to qualify for the World Test Championship (WTC) final.
Therefore, he wants the Rohit Sharma-led side to focus on upcoming tour rather the one-off WTC final, scheduled to be played at the iconic Lord’s in June next year.
India have put themselves in a tough spot after losing 0-3 to New Zealand at home. As a result of their first-ever whitewash on home soil, they slipped out of the top position in the WTC standings.
"No, I don't. I actually think that India cannot beat Australia 4-0 in the Test series. I'd be over the moon, if they do that. But 4-0? India can win 3-1, 4-0 is... I don't want to talk about the World Test Championship Final. Now just focus on trying to win the series in Australia. Never mind whether you win 1-0,2-0,3-0, 3-1,2-1. But go and win. Because that is how all of us Indian cricket fans are going to be back to feeling good again," Gavaskar told India Today.
India and Australia are slated to square off in a five-match Test series for the first time in over three decades.
The marquee series is slated to get underway on November 22 in Perth and the action will then shift to Adelaide (December 6-10), where both teams will face each other in a Day-Night Test. The last three Tests are set to take place in Brisbane (December 14-18), Melbourne (December 26-30), and Sydney (January 3-7).
The Indian team is expected to do well in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy on Australian tracks, where the ball comes on to the bat better. The decision to prepare rank turners for the New Zealand series backfired for the side.
Not one to mince his words, Gavaskar said India wanted to secure their place in the WTC final during the New Zealand series, but ended up playing into the hands of the Kiwis.
He further opined that India neutralized Jasprit Bumrah's impact by preparing dust bowls and should prepare pitches that help the best new ball bowler in the world.
"I think that's got to be due to the thinking that India needed to win and qualify for the WTC final. And the thinking of the change-room would be that the only way we can win is by preparing pitches, which is which will turn from day one despite having, by all accounts, the best new ball bowler in the world in our team - Jasprit Bumrah. He's the best new ball bowler in the world. I mean, just about every cricketer you know everybody who follows the game of cricket will say that he is the best new ball bowler in the game today, so we should be preparing pitches which will help him, actually," the cricketer-turned-commentator remarked.
"Then you have somebody like Akash Deep, who will also look good. With New Zealand, it's bowling attack, with the greatest of respect, they're not the kind of bowling attack that you know Indian batters should be succumbing to," he concluded.
