New Delhi: Legendary Indian batter Sunil Gavaskar on Saturday pointed out how the Indian bowlers missed to test Australian batter Travis Head after the player smashed a scintillating century on the second day of the second Test match in Adelaide.
The Australian middle order batter was unfazed with a couple of early dismissals and played his natural stroke-making game against India to shift the pressure. He loved anything that was offered to him outside the off-stump area and cashed in on the balls that came on the middle of his bat. He accelerated in the second session, building some crucial partherships with Marnus Labuschagne (65 for fourth wicket), Mitchell Marsh (40 for sixth wicket) and Alex Carey (74 for seventh wicket).
In each of these alliances, Head was the top contributor as he belted 17 boundaries and four sixes against Bumrah & Co. en route to his eighth Test century. He brought up the three-figure score in 111 balls, which is the fastest century in the pink-ball Test cricket.
Gavaskar wasn’t happy with the fact that India didn’t try to execute the short balls against the South Australian swashbuckling batter.
“It’s just baffling. We heard about it in WTC final, we started to get into uncomfortable situations. It was similar in the World Cup final. We hardly tested him. Pitch it up, he might throw bat, he might get the middle of the bat, or there is a possibility that he might edge it, but India never tried to put him under pressure,” Gavaskar told Star Sports.
“You have to ask them. Harshit Rana got it a bit wrong, Siraj got lovely bouncer, Bumrah does too between shoulders and helmet. Nothing of that sort was tried, everything was around middle. Australian and South Africans are very good with playing such deliveries,” he added.
Gavaskar felt Siraj’s fiery send-off to Head was unnecessary
Mohammed Siraj was the one to put curtains of Travis Head’s blitzkrieg in Adelaide. After India was granted the second new ball, Head smashed Bumrah and Siraj for boundaries. Just after dispatching the ball over deep square leg for a six off Siraj’s bowling, Head was cleaned up on the next delivery after getting flummoxed with the low full toss.
Siraj uttered some words with his usual aggressive celebrations coming on. He looked the batter with big eyes and gestured him to leave in a disrespectful manner. Gavaskar wasn’t pleased with Siraj’s actions following the dismissal and didn’t mince his words from criticising the Indian pacer.
“Unnecessary, if you ask me, the man’s got 140, he hasn’t got four or five or something. You got 140 you’re giving him a send-off totally uncalled for totally uncalled for. No wonder he’s getting the stick from the crowd,” Gavaskar said on Star Sports.
“He’s a local hero, Travis Head is a local hero and after scoring 100, if he had even just applauded, Siraj would have been a hero for the entire crowd, instead of giving him a send-off, he’s become the villain. Look, the man’s got 140, like I said, if he got out for one or two, then you give him a send-off in a completely different,” the legendary player added.
Sunil Gavaskar criticised India’s bowling strategy against Travis Head’s century in the Adelaide Test. He questioned the lack of short-pitched deliveries, arguing that India failed to put Head under pressure. Gavaskar also criticized Mohammed Siraj’s aggressive send-off to Head after his dismissal, deeming it unnecessary given Head’s significant score. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
