“You are not here for a cruise” - Sunil Gavaskar lambasts Indian team after Lord’s Test defeat

Former Indian opening batter and commentator Sunil Gavaskar has gone down hard at the Indian cricket team after the Shubman Gill-led side suffered a close 22-run defeat at Lord’s on Monday, July 14.

With an eight-day gap available for the fourth Test, which is scheduled to start on Wednesday, July 23, at Old Trafford in Manchester, Gavaskar suggested the bench-warmers get game time by playing County cricket during the break.

"You should get some cricket. You are playing for India. You are not here for a cruise or something like that," Gavaskar said. 

Harsha Bhogle was quick to suggest that a few players like Abhimanyu Easwaran, Arshdeep Singh, Nitish Reddy, and Akash Deep should utilize the break properly by taking part in a County game to improve their form.

"Even Kuldeep Yadav. Suddenly, you want them in the team. With what practice you want them in the team?" Gavaskar responded.

The newly appointed Indian Test captain, Shubman Gill, has lamented the top-order collapse as one of the main reasons behind India’s defeat in the 193-run chase on Day 5. Furthermore, he also backed Ravindra Jadeja, who scored 61* off 181 balls, but couldn’t get his side over the line.

"We were not able to do that (get top order partnerships), and they played better than us. There is always hope as long as there is a batsman batting, there is always some hope, because the target was not massive and a fifty-sixty run partnership we knew we would be back in. He (Jadeja) is very experienced, and did not want to give him any message. I think he was batting really well with the tail and I just wanted him and the tail-enders to bat as long as possible," Gill said.

Stay updated with the latest cricket news, match insights, and exclusive updates at BetBarter and download the BetBarter app to start betting today!