Gautam Gambhir laments poor shot selection as the reason for India's loss

Day four of the fourth Test between India and England was a huge disappointment for the fans of the visiting team. Indian batsmen succumbed to the pressure which resulted in a 60-run loss for them. Chasing 245, the Virat Kohli-led side was bowled out for 184 and the series was thus won by England with one match to go. However, Gautam Gambhir has lamented shot selection as the reason for their loss and felt that India should’ve chased down the target.

Moeen Ali was the chief tormentor for Team India as he picked nine wickets in the match and used the rough outside the off-stump really well. For the tourists though, it was the partnership between Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane which kept in the hunt but once the former fell, it was all one-way traffic. Gambhir was disappointed with Rishabh Pant who played a rash shot when the team needed 90 runs more to win and it was important to spend time in the middle.

“Obviously a frustrating loss for India. You expect Indian batters to chase 245 on this wicket. Obviously, Moeen Ali was a threat. But the way Virat Kohli and Rahane were going, India were in the game. Some of the shots were absolutely not up to the mark, especially Rishabh Pant,” Gambhir was quoted as saying by Times of India on Monday.

“You don’t expect when you are chasing around 90 runs and you start playing like this. Obviously, you can be brave but there are better options that could have been taken.”

It was not a bad pitch

Gautam Gambhir further argued that the alien pitch is no excuse for India’s batting debacle, and that fast bowler from both the sides equally enjoyed assistance from it. “India batters should have gotten this total on this wicket. Moeen Ali was a threat and then they had three fast bowlers plus Sam Curran. But I thought that the wicket wasn’t that bad as it looked and it played really well, especially from the fast bowler’s point of view.”

The fifth and final Test at Kennington Oval will commence on Friday. Having already lost the series, India will be playing the game to salvage pride and end the series on a high.

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