Sunil
Gavaskar feels Indian bowlers can take inspiration from their
performance during the ODI series in England last year.
Indian
bowlers might have failed to impress on the Australian tour so far but
that hasn't stopped Sunil Gavaskar from pinning his hopes on them
returning to form during the ICC World Cup that starts next month.
While Gavaskar criticises them for not learning anything from the experiences of their recent overseas tours, he feels that they do have the capability to strike form when the situation demands. After failing to take 20 wickets in the 2-0 Test series defeat to Australia during the four-match series, the Indian bowlers once again failed to defend a 267-run total in the tri-series opener against the hosts.
"The problem I think is that Indian bowlers have learnt nothing from their overseas experiences over the years in limited-overs cricket. So that is a worry. We are just hoping that when the World Cup comes, the fact that they are the defending champions will give tremendous motivation," he said during an interview. "At the moment it just looks to me as if even the bowlers are bowling well within themselves. They have had a long tour, the Test series and they don't want to stretch themselves to such an extent that they might cause some injury to themselves going into the World Cup."
Gavaskar feels Indian bowlers can take inspiration from their performance during the ODI series in England last year which they won 4-1. "They handled themselves really well in England. So I am hoping that they will be able to find the same rhythm that had in England and restricted them to win the series 4-1. If that happens then India will be a formidable team," he said.
Even though the new ball bowling pair of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami has been ineffective to say the least, they still are Gavaskar's first-choice seamers for the World Cup. "My first choice bowlers would be Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami. I would go in with these two. I would go in with Stuart Binny and I will go in with two spinners as well. Because for the simple reason that Bhuvneshwar can also bat a little bit, he is also a very good fielder. Shami can also tonk along a bit and he is also a very good fielder. With Binny and the two spinners, they all bat.
"So I am looking at a team which will have batting depth. Considering the pitches where you are going to play on where the batsmen might just flounder a little bit, like they did at the Gabba. So if they have the batting depth then it sort of covers all my bases," said the former opener.
Virat Kohli was in rich vein of form during the recent Test series against Australia when he scored 692 runs across four games with the help of four centuries. However, he has been dismissed cheaply in the first two games of the tri-series. Batting at No 4, Kohli has registered scores of nine and four against Australia and England respectively and Gavaskar feels that the inability to keep head still while going for shots is putting him off balance.
"What he's doing wrong is that he is trying something different at this moment. He is looking to go on the front foot and then jumping on to the backfoot well within the crease. What that is doing is that his head is bobbing up and down. In cricket the head has to be still, if your head is still then you are able to judge the bounce better. Have a look at both his dismissals. His jumping is putting him off balance," he said.
While Gavaskar criticises them for not learning anything from the experiences of their recent overseas tours, he feels that they do have the capability to strike form when the situation demands. After failing to take 20 wickets in the 2-0 Test series defeat to Australia during the four-match series, the Indian bowlers once again failed to defend a 267-run total in the tri-series opener against the hosts.
"The problem I think is that Indian bowlers have learnt nothing from their overseas experiences over the years in limited-overs cricket. So that is a worry. We are just hoping that when the World Cup comes, the fact that they are the defending champions will give tremendous motivation," he said during an interview. "At the moment it just looks to me as if even the bowlers are bowling well within themselves. They have had a long tour, the Test series and they don't want to stretch themselves to such an extent that they might cause some injury to themselves going into the World Cup."
Gavaskar feels Indian bowlers can take inspiration from their performance during the ODI series in England last year which they won 4-1. "They handled themselves really well in England. So I am hoping that they will be able to find the same rhythm that had in England and restricted them to win the series 4-1. If that happens then India will be a formidable team," he said.
Even though the new ball bowling pair of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami has been ineffective to say the least, they still are Gavaskar's first-choice seamers for the World Cup. "My first choice bowlers would be Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami. I would go in with these two. I would go in with Stuart Binny and I will go in with two spinners as well. Because for the simple reason that Bhuvneshwar can also bat a little bit, he is also a very good fielder. Shami can also tonk along a bit and he is also a very good fielder. With Binny and the two spinners, they all bat.
"So I am looking at a team which will have batting depth. Considering the pitches where you are going to play on where the batsmen might just flounder a little bit, like they did at the Gabba. So if they have the batting depth then it sort of covers all my bases," said the former opener.
Virat Kohli was in rich vein of form during the recent Test series against Australia when he scored 692 runs across four games with the help of four centuries. However, he has been dismissed cheaply in the first two games of the tri-series. Batting at No 4, Kohli has registered scores of nine and four against Australia and England respectively and Gavaskar feels that the inability to keep head still while going for shots is putting him off balance.
"What he's doing wrong is that he is trying something different at this moment. He is looking to go on the front foot and then jumping on to the backfoot well within the crease. What that is doing is that his head is bobbing up and down. In cricket the head has to be still, if your head is still then you are able to judge the bounce better. Have a look at both his dismissals. His jumping is putting him off balance," he said.
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