Former India head coach Ravi Shastri was brutal in his analysis of the Indian team’s performance in the ongoing second Test against South Africa. The match being played in Guwahati saw South Africa score 486 runs in their first innings after batting first.
In response, India did well, with openers KL Rahul (22) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (58) posting 65 runs for the first wicket. However, the Indian team faltered and went from 95/2 to 122/7 in short order. Sai Sudharsan (15), Dhruv Jurel (0), Rishabh Pant (7), and Ravindra Jadeja (6) all fell in quick succession.
This left India at 122/7 at one stage, before Washington Sundar (34*) and Kuldeep Yadav (14*) stemmed the fall of wickets as India went to lunch on day three at 174/7.
Indian batters performed ultimate hara-kiri by simply giving their wickets away. Shastri stated on commentary that the pitch at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium is not a 150/7 surface, and he criticized India's batting order for being overly experimental.
"No, absolutely not. It makes no sense. I don't understand the thought process there. I mean, when they look back at this series, some of the selections… I’m still trying to figure out the thought process there. For example, you play 4 spinners in Kolkata and bowl one of the spinners for just one over. Ideally, you should have gone in with a specialist batter.
Similarly, here, you made Washington Sundar bat at 3 in the last Test, but you could have easily made him bat at No. 4 here, now that you have a No. 3. He [Sundar] is No. 8. He's way better than a number 8," Shastri said while on commentary on Monday.
After Rahul Dravid’s tenure as India's head coach ended and Cheteshwar Pujara’s exit from the Indian team, the no. 3 spot has become a game of musical chairs. India, especially the head coach Gautam Gambhir, needs to sort out their batting order.
It started with Karun Nair and Sai Sudharsan being tried at no. 3 on the England Test tour, and then Sai was persisted for the home Test series in Kolkata. Then Washington Sundar batted at no. 3 for India in the first Test in Kolkata, and now India has gone back to Sai Sudharsan for the second Test.
