Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar on Sunday said that pacer Zaheer Khan’s omission from the squad for fourth Test was on expected lines but Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh have made soft targets.
“If you ask me, Zaheer’s exclusion was expected but I believe that Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh have been made scapegoats,” Gavaskar said.
“If you look at Harbhajan’s performance in Mumbai, he got to bowl some 20-odd overs (21) and also got two wickets. If India lost in Mumbai, it was a collective failure. Yuvraj also got into 30s. If you want to drop them then why not some of the others who have also not performed. Both Yuvraj and Harbhajan are soft targets,” Gavaskar told NDTV.
“I think a good idea would have been if chairman of selection committee (Sandip Patil) would have gone to the dressing room and spoken with the players who haven’t played some good shots to get out. Also with the bowlers. The defeat should hurt them. But sadly, I saw some of the players joking around and playing football as if nothing has happened. That’s not a good attitude.”
About the selection of Parvinder Awana, Gavaskar said, “I don’t know his domestic performance but if he has done well in domestic cricket, I have no issues. But IPL can’t be a yardstick for selection in national team. India cap should be earned the hard way.”
Gavaskar however feels that calling for Dhoni’s head will be a knee-jerk reaction.
“A captain is as good as his team. I don’t think we have any alternative of Dhoni at the moment. If you want to change the captain for the heck of it, then it’s different,” he concluded.
Keywords: India-England Test series, Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh
Players like SRT, Sehwag, Gambhir, Bajji, Ishant have no future in the team. MSD is matured enough
to walk away. Zaheer was forced to play in the team. Why is that a player who had scored 19, 14, 19,
7, 6 & 20 in 3 test matches not dropped when Yuvi who made at least one big score can be dropped.
Why is Irfan not even in the picture. What happens to Vijay and Rahane when they think about Indian
crickets future. Can anyone justify why Raina is not in the squad.
To Mr. Partha, I am not sure if you follow domestic cricket at all, FYI R. Jadeja is selected on basis of performance he has scored 2 triple hundred this year itself and he has hit 3 triple hundred in the span of 1 and half years, no mean feet I guess.
Let us accept that we were beaten by a better team who outplayed us in
all departments of the two tests. Why are the selectors still retaining
Tendulkar? His last 6-7 innings have been utter disasters. Even the medium pacers from New Zealand managed to bowl him out - clean -
through the gate. Either he is out of form or out of touch. The England
bowlers are NOT unplayable as Ashwin clearly showed with his
application & patience. As far as Dhoni is concerned, he had said last
year after the England tour that he is less interested in Test matches.
It is time he quit test cricket or shown the gate pass
The entire blame should be cast on the Indian openers - Sehwag & Gambhir. Sehwag thinks that lusty blows from his willow are enough for a big score. Gambhir is also lacking seriousness. Both are not playing keeping the country and the team in mind. The total indian team is in ruins. Our team should undergo a overhaul.
Mr. Gavaskar, if you are honest and have the real guts, you should have stated clearly as to who all have players should have been dropped from the team, otherwise it is only diplomatic way of putting it. If Harbhajan had to be dropped, then the selectors should have dropped him immediately after the second test and he is a victim of clear politics of BCCI President, Vijay Mallaya and the Captain. Dhoni owes an explanation to the country as to why Harbhajan was under-utilized in the Mumbai Test. What is the basis of the selection of Ravindra Jadeja, is it because he is part of Chennai Super Kings and favorite of Dhoni? What is his performance to be backed for selection in test the cricket. The selectors are spineless and Indian cricket is only dominated by politics.
Sunil for all your cricketing wisdom, you are here on very thin ice. If Harbhajan and Yuvraj are retained in the team, who do you want to drop Ashwin and Gambhir?
If you had the guts you should have asked for Sachin to be dropped.
Very honest and true opinion from Gavaskar... It is high time for Tendulkar to retire. If he skips the forthcoming T20I and ODI with England and Pakistan and opts to play for IPL 2013, then it is a sure indication of his greediness for money and nothing else... Tendulkar's attitude of selecting the tournaments that he wants to play really affects the team in finding/grooming a proper replacement who can strengthen the opening slot (in ODI)/middle order (in test matches) for the next 5-10 years.
Mr. Gavaskar is 100% right. Yuvraj scored a good half century at Motera. He also got some good
scores in remaining matches,while Harbhajan did not play Kolkata match. Both of them have
been made soft targets. Instead of sacking big guns,these two received jolts from selectors. This
is shameful for future of Indian cricket.
In Cricket, the captain has to set the field & advice the bowler, as
to how to bowl, to each batsman, based on his weakness. Shuffling the
bowlers to unsettle batsman is another area.
DHONI FAILED IN THESE. Donot blame the bowler. If the bowler is to get
wicket on his own merit, why you need a captain?
The team can be blamed if they were lazy,slow,sluggish on field,
dropped catches,etc.
Batsmen were taking their position for granted was the reason.
Reprimand them on every mistake. Make them earn their position.
We are not west indies Or Newzeland,with little population.
We are not to accept them for their sponsers & advertisements.
Gavaskar's comments are on expected lines.He always would be dishing
out his wise-cracks on all cricketing issues. But had never
contributed with any positive solution.His defence of Harbhajan, Yuvraj
and Dhoni are so hallow and different from what he dished out in the
commentary box.He simply lambasted Dhoni's insistance on pitches
jokingly in the commentary box and now he defends him .Recentaly he
questioned Pakistan's tour to India on 26/11 incident as a Mumbaiker
and turned back on his words later.Chairman of selctors is his good
friend Sndip Patil - why not advise him personally rather than advsing
him through media. All these are hypocrites- feel they have all the
moral right to question after the event is over..
the indian players are very casual,there is no intensity when they are on the field.i saw zaheer khan laughing after a misfield,this will never happen with the australians or the south africans.if you look at the australians...regardless of any sport they play they always remain at the top..whereas we don't..our players are more intrested in advertisements..,what was the requirement of roping in virat kohli in a mobile advertisement whehreas he should have been left to practice n play better.people gloat over vijayender singh's boxing exploits..yes,if you see from the indian perspective..he is a success..but what is one solitary bronze vis a vis the 10 individual golds carl lewis won..its nothing..but vijayender was busy spending time with actors and actresses..quite naturally he lost his edge and came without a medal in the last olympics...mr gavaskar is very right the defeat should hurt us.
Gavaskar has a point when he says that soft targets like Harbhajan and Yuvraj have been axed. Both Gambhir and Sehwag, especially the latter has been guilty of throwing away his wicket playing irresponsible shots. His run out in the first innings was pathetic. Gambhir seems to have developed a habit of running his partners out. Both of them should have been axed and Rahane and Murali Vijay should have been given an opportunity. Even Kohli should have been rested for the fourth test so that he can realise that he cannot take his place for granted.
Mr. Gavaskar have you seen the scorecards of the last 2 test matches?
Yuvraj Singh has been hurried into the team for no reason simply on
sympathetic grounds. Harbhajan never deserved a place in the Indian
side, you can check his performance in last 10 outings anywhere in the
world.
Yes bowlers shall not be made scape goat to batting failure. It is
right to drop Zakeer and give chance to youngsters. Dropping the
Harbahajan is correct but his replacement is not great choice, may be
Harmeet may be a good choice. Yuvraj is never a great test player.
Hope Jadeja do well. But please play Ajinkya in place of Gambhir.
Atleast Gambhir may realise that he has to play well and this will be
a good message to Virender to play his natural style to get runs and
improve his fitness. Play Awana and it would be foolish to keep the
three entrants to warm the benches. With reference to Dhoni, if he is
not captain may be his selection to the team is debatable. Hope the
Indian openers realise their worth as their performance will enhance
the performance of the middle order and it will give Sachin a decent
platform to score runs and march into the sunset.
Win or loss is common in any game. When you lose you have to introspect reasons for it and correct yourself. All batsmen should try to emulate Cook. How patiently he batted. One should enjoy batting. Treat every ball as a new ball. Score will come automatically. In the same way, our spinners should try to increase the speed and spin. English spinners proved to be much better than our spinners. Dhoni should stop uttering for spin-able pitches.
Learn from the mistakes and correct oneself.
Our batsmen are not fit for test matches. They are tuned to one dayers only. They should practice to keep on batting for hours without getting out. Runs will come automatically.
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