Former chief selector Sunil Joshi criticized India’s batting unit for lacking responsibility during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Former chief selector Sunil Joshi has criticized India’s batting performance during their disappointing Border-Gavaskar Trophy tour in Australia, calling for greater accountability from the players and proactive guidance from the coaching staff.
India’s top-order batters failed to show significant adjustments throughout the five-match series, leading to repeated dismissals in similar ways. Joshi highlighted the importance of patience and technical refinement, suggesting these factors could have altered the outcome.
“It’s pretty hard to take it, but the batters need to take responsibility. Of course, the coaching staff also needs to be aware of how they can communicate with the players – be it the hard way or the subtle way. It’s a bitter pill and we have to accept it. Every player on that tour understands what is the importance of playing for India,” he said to IANS.
Despite the team’s efforts, consistent issues within the batting unit played a major role in the 1-3 series loss. Moving forward, Joshi believes a combination of responsibility, strategic guidance, and better execution will be essential for India to regain its dominance in Test cricket.
“They would always like to give their best, but at times it may not happen. So the players need to be told what they need to add or adapt in terms of patience and a little bit of adjustment in their skill levels and techniques. For me, if you look at the dismissals of our top six batters in all five Test matches, I don’t see any change in that,” the ex-selector continued.
“It looked similar dismissals, and I’m not saying that even the Australians also got out the same way. But the difference between us and the Australians was clearly shown by the partnerships they built upon and the top order taking responsibility time and again. Also, we need to look at our fielding, as that was an area of concern,” Sunil Joshi added.
Sunil Joshi On Workload Management for Bumrah
Joshi then slammed India’s strategy of prioritizing multiple all-rounders over five quality bowlers in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. He also raised concerns about Jasprit Bumrah’s workload, highlighting that the pacer bowled over 150 overs during the series.
“If you want to win overseas or even in India if you want to win a Ranji Trophy, you need five bowlers. You cannot go with four bowlers, and for me, if your six batters and seventh or eighth batters are not going to score runs, you then need five proper bowlers who can win Test matches for you by picking 20 wickets. If you look at the amount of load Bumrah had in the five Test matches, he bowled above 150 overs. In case you’d have reduced his load to somewhere around 60 or 65 overs, his effectiveness could have been much more. In this series, every time it was Bumrah – even in the last Test match, Bumrah went out (due to back spasms) and we looked very ordinary,” he concluded.
Last Updated on January 9, 2025
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