Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar slammed Virat Kohli after the right-hander was dismissed while chasing a wide delivery against Australia in the WTC Final at the Oval on Sunday. India suffered a huge loss of 209 runs against Australia as their wait for the major ICC trophy continued.
Kohli chased down a seventh stump delivery against Scott Boland and Steve Smith took a brilliant catch at the second slip, while diving to his right. In fact, Kohli has been dismissed in a similar fashion on numerous occasions in the past.
Gavaskar added how Kohli is supposed to play a big knock if he plays a shot like that. Kohli returned with scores of 14 and 49 runs and once again failed to deliver the goods in a big final.
“It was a bad shot; it was an ordinary shot. You are asking me how did he do that. I mean, you should ask Kohli. What shot he played. How Are you going to score a century if you play a shot like this,” said Gavaskar on Star Sports.
India could only add 70 runs on the final day and lost seven wickets. Gavaskar was surprised that the Indian batting unit could not last a session on a batting-friendly pitch.
“The batting was shambles. It is ridiculous some of what we saw today, the shot-making. India have not lasted a session with that batting line-up. I mean, come on,” he added.
No Indian batter could even score a fifty in the second innings as they were skittled out for 234 runs. The Indian batters failed to deliver the goods collectively and they will be disappointed with their performance in the all-important final.
Gavaskar added he would be surprised if the senior players carry on to play in the next WTC final and feel the team should be prepared for the transition.
“I think two years down the road, I am pretty certain, there won’t be too many of the senior players. I would be very surprised. If they are there, then it’s fantastic because they would have played out of their skins to be there,” said Gavaskar.
“But, I think somewhere down the line, you have got to be prepared for the transition, whether it’s 20 overs game, 50 overs game or Test cricket. But it has to happen,” Gavaskar added.
India will now tour West Indies in July.
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