Sunil Gavaskar heap praises on Kedar Jadhav and calls him a new gem at No.6

Former Indian captain and legendary batsman Sunil Gavaskar congratulated Team India on a series win against England despite losing the last match at the Eden Gardens. Gavaskar felt that Virat Kohli and Co have got “all bases covered” ahead of their title defence in Champions Trophy in England later in the year. India’s newfound No.6 batsman Kedar Jadhav almost snatched victory from the jaws of defeat and Gavaskar said that India has found a new gem in the No.6 position.

“He is a finisher and looking good at No.6. I think India have found a gem in that position.” Gavaskar was quoted as saying by the NDTV during an exclusive chat.  Lauding Virat Kohli’s captaincy Gavaskar said, “The good thing is that captaincy has not affected Virat Kohli’s batting and we need him more as a batsman than a captain.”

There were some brilliant individual performances from the Men in Blue throughout the series and despite their top order hiccup, the hosts managed to find a solution and went on to win the series in Cuttack itself. Chasing a mammoth 351 in the first match, India was tottering at 63/4 at one stage but on the back of brilliant centuries by captain Virat Kohli and Kedar Jadhav the Indians romped home with an over to spare.

Again in the 2nd encounter, India was jolted early while batting first and was tottering at 25/3. Two old friends and veterans of the game Yuvraj Singh and Mahendra Singh Dhoni scored magnificent centuries to lead India to a huge score of 381. In the 3rd match, Kedar Jadhav almost snatched victory but eventually, India fell short by 5 runs.

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The death bowling has been pretty ordinary from the Indian bowlers and Gavaskar has concerns about it ahead of the Champions Trophy. “Death bowling is still a concern for the Indian team but other than that the team is doing quite well, be it batting or fielding. Now, we don’t need to hide any fielder and everyone is contributing, which is a very positive thing,” he said.

However, the legendary batsman pointed out some issues which Team India needs to solve ahead of their title defence in England. “India have not started well in all the three matches. Virat Kohli or MS Dhoni are not going to score in every matches and someone needs to take the responsibility. Openers lack of form has been a worry but I think once Rohit Sharma is fit, he will be the automatic choice and I would still go for Shikhar Dhawan as the second opener,” he concluded.