Batting legend Sunil Gavaskar on Sunday (October 30) weighed in on India’s T20 World Cup 2022 defeat against South Africa, citing that the Men in Blue paid the price for lack of smart approach, especially in their batting and played down the impact of fielding errors.
Opting to bat first, the Men in Blue posted 133/9 in their allotted 20 overs on the back of Suryakumar Yadav’s 40-ball 68.
Defending the total, Indian bowlers reduced the Proteas to 24/3 inside the powerplay. However, the fielding was not up to the mark as Aiden Markram (52 off 41 balls) got a couple of reprieves and shared a 76-run stand with David Miller (59* off 46 balls) to script South Africa’s five-wicket victory with two deliveries to spare.
"I think, in cricket, you are going to have situations where catches are going to be dropped, run-out opportunities missed. What you really going to see is that we didn't score enough runs. On a pitch like this where there is going to be a little bit of a challenge for battes, I think you have got to play it smartly. I don't think we played smart enough cricket because if you had played smart cricket, we would have had a 150 on the board," Gavaskar quoted as saying by India Today.
Indian batters found it tough to cope with extra pace, bounce and movement on a lively Perth track. Besides Surya, only Rohit Sharma (15) and Virat Kohli (12) managed to score in double digits.
All the South African pacers bowled exceptionally well. While Lungi Ngidi (4-29) picked four wickets, Wayne Parnell (3-15) and Anrich Nortje (1-23) shared four scalps between them. Kagiso Rabada (0-26) might have been wicketless but he also returned with an economical spell.
Gavaskar was not happy with the Indian batters’ approach and their shot selection.
"For example, some of the dismissals that we saw show that they were perhaps concerned about the pace and bounce on the pitch and therefore trying to do something different. But it was difficult to do something different against a quality attack," Gavaskar said.
"I have been stressing about playing an extra batter but Deepak Hooda tried to attack in his 3rd delivery when he had Suryakumar Yadav at the other end. He had to play smart cricket.
"Similarly, I think, Karthik getting out at that stage. I am not blaming them, I am saying generally saying that apart from Suryakumar Yadav, nobody played the kind of cricket with the experience that they had that would have helped us get those 15-20 runs more," he added.
Despite the defeat, India's chances of making the semi-finals are still high. The Rohit Sharma-led side is due to face Bangladesh on November 2 in Adelaide and Zimbabwe on November 6 in Melbourne.
Gavaskar said the inaugural T20 World Cup champions can't take their next two opponents lightly.
"Yes, let's not press the panic button at all. We have 4 points and 2 matches to go. 2 matches against opponents we should be able to win. You should never taken any team lightly, Bangladesh have given us a run for the money in T20Is. So we have to be careful against them, even Zimbabwe, the way they have played in this World Cup, we have to be careful," he remarked.
(India Today inputs)
