AUS v IND 2018: Sunil Gavaskar wants Indian batsmen to improve their game before facing Australia

India travels to Australia later this year.

India faced a 4-1 series defeat against England | GETTY

Sunil Gavaskar was distressed by India's defeat against England in the Test series. They lost the five-match series by 4-1 and Gavaskar had lashed out the Virat Kohli-led team for lack of preparation ahead of an important series.

India's next overseas assignment is against Australia and this time Gavaskar wants the team to leave no stone unturned before facing the Aussie pace attack. There will be more pace and bounce Down Under and it will be the test of Indian batsman once again.

The first Test between the two countries starts on December 6. Gavaskar said the Indian batters will have to up their game to face the fiery pacers of Australia.

"I think massive changes are not required because that upsets the rhythm of the whole team. But you need to find the areas where you think we're weak and need to be corrected. That is the need of the hour. We have to be brutally honest and see that this is the area we didn't quite measure up. That's the area they need to look at very, very hard.

"The results are there. We have seen what happened in South Africa and in England. It's an old saying 'if you fail to prepare you to prepare to fail'. We know preparation is such an important aspect of the international sport and we were aware that this was likely to happen. It happened and it doesn't really surprise that much.

"For Australia tour, the biggest hope is that without Steve Smith and David Warner India will have a pretty inexperienced batting line up to contend with and we might as well win. But as we have seen in South Africa and England, bowlers will do their job but batsmen will have to get the runs. Whether the Indian batsmen will get the runs, even if it's 180 or 150 to win, against Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood that we'll have to wait and see," Gavaskar told India Today.

Harbhajan Singh, who was also part of commentary panel during the Test series, said that only Kohli showed some fight but others were not up to the mark. He demanded few changes in the side before touring Australia. 

"India's bowling has been exceptional. This is the best I have seen in many years. India has never got four seamers running in and bowling 145 kmph and taking those wickets. But the bowling was not the concern, the concern was India's batting. I think India will have to address those areas. If you want to do well abroad, you need to sort out your batting. Virat Kohli likes winning and he will not sit back and relax. If there are changes to be made they will be made," Harbhajan said.

Gavaskar commented on KL Rahul's century in the last Test against England. The 69-year-old former opener further added that Bhuvneshwar Kumar's return to Indian side will be a relief for them.

"Bhuvneshwar Kumar's return will strengthen the bowling department while KL Rahul coming back to form is a big positive. Rishabh Pant scored a hundred and the way Kuldeep Yadav bowled in the limited-overs series are also positive signs," he said.

Before Test series, India will play three-match T20I series against Australia. The first T20I will be played on November 21. 

 
 

By Sihyeu Singh - 14 Sep, 2018

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