‘If they have any sense of responsibility the selectors should resign' - Gavaskar highlights baffling role of Australian selectors
India lead the Border-Gavaskar Trophy by 2-1.
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There has been a plethora of noise about the pitches in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy. In fact, before the commencement of the much anticipated series, the Australian media slammed accusations on the hosts for 'doctored pitches'. Furthermore, some elite veteran legends from Australia too chimed in on several occasions and demanded actions from the ICC (International Cricket Council).
The buck didn't stop there as ex-cricketers even reminded of India's last tour of Australia, where competitive cricket from a spirited yet injury inflicted Indian side won the historic 'Gabba' Test and the series as well. Interestingly enough, some legends with the likes of Matthew Hayden calling out players on things like the sweep conundrum. Moreover, Allan Border questioning Steve Smith's 'thumbs-up' nod to good balls delivered and the bowler in concern, respectively.
Albeit, in a rather different yet sensible take, the former legendary Indian batter and skipper, Sunil Gavaskar reflected on how the series has panned out for the Australian side so far. As per Gavaskar, everyone has only questioned the players and their way of approach in the current series but why nobody has darted their objections with injuries and the role of selectors.
The ones who should be the real targets are the Australian selectors: Sunil Gavaskar
Former India batter and legend rightly pointed out the injury woes of the Australian side in the form of Josh Hazlewood's Achilles injury even before the series started. Moreover, Gavaskar also reminded of Mitchell Starc's finger injury which kept him on the bench for the first two Tests. He felt that instead of blaming just the players the suspicious yet baffling role of the selectors should be highlighted and questioned.
"While the ex-Australian players on the various media platforms are having a real go at their players, the ones who should be the real targets are the Australian selectors. How can they pick three players (Hazlewood, Starc, and Cameron Green) who they knew would not be available for selection for the first two Test matches? That is, for half the series, the team management had only 13 players to pick from," 73-year-old mentioned in his column for the Sportstar.
“Then they fly in a newcomer (Matthew Kuhnemann) when they had a similar player already in the team. If they didn’t think the player in the team was good enough, why did they pick him in the first place? That meant the team management was picking their 11 from 12 players. Ridiculous. If they have any sense of responsibility the selectors should resign even if Australia make a stunning comeback and win the next two Tests and level the series," Sunny concluded.
Meanwhile, the Test series is currently at an exciting juncture. The fourth Test in Ahmedabad is not less than any cliffhanger. With India leading the series (2-1) by winning the first two Tests will aim to not only win the decisive match but also book their berth for the WTC final clash with none other than Australia to be played at the Oval in June.
While the visitors have a chance to not only equalize the series with a win but also can make the road to the WTC final for the hosts a bit tough with Sri Lanka still having an outside chance to qualify for the grand finale.
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