Batting legend Sunil Gavaskar was left furious after seeing the way Indian batters surrendered on Day 5 of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2023 final against Australia at The Oval.
Chasing 444 to win, India reached 164/3 at the close of play on Day 4 with Virat Kohli (44*) and Ajinkya Rahane (20*) unbeaten in the middle.
India needed 280 runs on the final day with seven wickets in hand but they got bundled out for 234 in the first session to lose the match by a huge margin of 209 runs.
Gavaskar expressed his disappointment at India’s performance, especially Kohli, who got out while chasing a wide delivery from Scott Boland.
"The batting was shambles today. It was just ridiculous what we saw today. Especially the shot making. We saw some ordinary shots yesterday from (Cheteshwar) Pujara, somebody you never expect to play that shot.
"Maybe somebody has gone into his head and said 'strike rate, strike rate'. You have not even lasted a session. Eight wickets have not lasted a session? Come on," Gavaskar told broadcaster Star Sports.
Commenting on Kohli's dismissal, Gavaskar said: "It was a pretty ordinary shot. Outside the off stump. He was leaving till then. Maybe he was conscious that he needed one run to reach his half century. It happens when you are nearing a milestone.”
"It happened to Jadeja. He played a delivery he shouldn't have when he was (on) 48. Happened to Ajinkya Rahane who was on 46. He hadn't played that shot all this while. Suddenly why do you play that shot? Because you are aware of that landmark."
Kohli managed to add only five runs to his overnight tally. He went for an expensive drive and ended up giving a catch to Steve Smith at second slip.
Gavaskar further slammed Kohli for his poor shot selection. "It was a bad shot. You should ask Kohli what shot he played. He talks so much about how to win a match you need a long innings. How are you going to do that if you play a ball so far outside the off stump?"
The result also meant India's underwhelming record in ICC events continued, with their last victory coming way back in 2013.
This was India's second successive defeat in the WTC final. In the inaugural edition, they lost to New Zealand in the summit clash.
(With PTI Inputs)
