ENG v IND 2018: Sunil Gavaskar urges Team India to leave for Nottingham and start practising

After the humiliating defeat in the second Test, Team India were still in London.

Team India are 0-2 down in the five-match Test series against England | Getty

Former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar finds it hard to believe that Virat Kohli and his men haven’t arrived at Nottingham yet to start preparing for the third Test at Trent Bridge, scheduled to commence from August 18.

India are 0-2 down in the five-match Test series, losing the first Test at Edgbaston by 31 runs and followed it up with an innings and 159 runs defeat at Lord’s. A day after the humiliating defeat in the second Test, Team India were still in London and reports suggest that they will travel to the venue of the third Test on Wednesday (August 15).

"I can understand they have taken the day off today.. they are still licking the wounds of the defeat at Lord's but they should have been planning to leave for Nottingham after today which would have been the last day of the Lord's Test and practice from tomorrow," Gavaskar quoted as saying by India Today.

"But clearly as we have seen from the start of the ODI series, they are in love with London. You cannot get practice facilities in London as easily as you would in Nottingham - I hope they practice from Tuesday. And there should be no optional practice. Everybody needs to get down to practice There's no such thing as optional practice when you are 0-2 down," he added.

Although Gavaskar thinks the confidence in the Indian dressing-room would be absolutely low, he still believes that Kohli and company have it in them to bounce back in the series.  

"The morale of the team would be low if you are 0-2 down. If they play out of their skins, they can still win the next three Tests. It won't be easy to beat England. But the good news is that Virat is confident of playing in the next Test,” Gavaskar remarked.

"Virat Kohli has to assess his injury himself.. whether to take the risk or not.. But if I were the captain, I would want Kohli to play even if he's 50 per cent fit. He's such a crucial element. He has to play unless he can't bend or walk. At the end of the day he has to decide how much pain can he bear. For me Virat has to play," he concluded.

India squad for 3rd Test:

Virat Kohli(c), Shikhar Dhawan, Lokesh Rahul, Dinesh Karthik, Kuldeep Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Umesh Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Karun Nair, Rishabh Pant, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami

England squad for 3rd Test:

Joe Root(c), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Alastair Cook, Sam Curran, Keaton Jennings, Ollie Pope, James Porter, Adil Rashid, Chris Woakes

 
 

By Salman Anjum - 14 Aug, 2018

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