Legendary Sunil Gavaskar reckons losing early wickets led to India’s downfall in their crushing 76-run loss against South Africa at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, on Sunday. After the Proteas posted 187 runs on the board, India was skittled out for 111.

Once again, the Indian openers could not provide a good start in the run chase. In-form Ishan Kishan was dismissed for a duck whereas Tilak Varma was dismissed after scoring only one run. Furthermore, under-fire Abhishek Sharma was sent back to the pavilion after he managed only 15 runs off 12 balls. Thus, India found themselves on the ropes at 26-3.

Sunil Gavaskar said on India Today, “In the first six overs, if you get off to a start, losing just maybe one wicket, then you give yourself a chance of chasing any total. But India has not been getting a good start from their opening batters. In fact, they are losing a wicket pretty much in the first over of their innings. And that actually sets everybody back because suddenly the pressure then gets a little too much on batsman number three.”

On the other hand, Gavaskar is optimistic that India will make it to the semifinals despite their heavy loss against South Africa.

He added, “I’m confident that they can win the next two matches and make it to the semis. I think they will make it to the semis.”

After suffering a big loss, Gavaskar said India will need to win against the West Indies and Zimbabwe by big margins to make their Net Run Rate better.

He concluded, “Now what India will be doing is, they will be playing catch-up. They will be looking over their shoulder all the time because they need to know what to do. The net run rate will also possibly come into play. So, I think it’s important for India to win the matches against Zimbabwe and West Indies by big margins.”

India will next take on Zimbabwe at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, on Thursday.