Sunil Gavaskar lashes out at Virat Kohli for his decision to bat first in 4th ODI

After three straight wins on the trot, the Proteas in pink struck back at the Wanderers on Saturday to bring fresh life to the six-match one-day series. Their resplendent in pink to raise money for a greater cause, ensured they maintained their unbeaten record on this beautiful day. In the rain curbed game, the likes of Klaasen and swashbuckler David Miller were absolutely phenomenal to take out the game away from the tourists.

Though the scoreline is favoring India, one of the greats of Indian Cricket, Sunil Gavaskar lashed out Virat Kohli for his decision to bat first at the Wanderers. Gavaskar first pointed toward the leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal for bowling the no-ball and then slammed man-in-form Virat Kohli. He highlighted the wrongs done by the skipper, followed by the dropped catch from Shreyas Iyer and other primary reasons for the downfall.

Kohli’s decision left Gavaskar bamboozled

Penned for the TOI, Gavaskar said, “They particularly enjoyed some good fortune in a catch being missed and a no-ball that cost them a wicket. David Miller who was the beneficiary on both occasions and later on he played some lovely shots to take the initiative away from India. Heinrich Klaasen, playing in only his second game, also took his chances and succeeded in hitting the spinners.”

Coming down to the toss scenario, which fell in the favor of the Indian captain, Gavaskar said that he was bamboozled after hearing Kohli’s decision to bat first when they knew that the encounter might turn out to be a rain-affected game.

“India’s decision to bat first can be questioned especially if they knew about the possibility of rain coming down later though the manner in which Kohli and Dhawan were toying with the Proteas attack it didn’t seem to matter. As is well known, the D/L method invariably favors the team chasing a target and that’s what it did. India had earlier not helped their cause by not getting past 300 runs which they should have after Dhawan and Kohli batted so splendidly,” he said.

Praised Indian bowling line up

Gavaskar, however, praised Indian bowling line up for the way they started to defend the score. “Still the manner in which the Indians started the defense of their score made it look as if another win was on the way. It was that man AB de Villiers who gave the stagnant South African score just the push that it needed and then that no ball from Chahal gave South Africa the luck that they didn’t have earlier”

“This is now the second time that a no-ball has cost India the match by giving a life to a batsman who has gone on to turn the match around. With all the technology available, a no-ball in limited overs cricket is nothing short of criminal for it shows neglect and laziness to stick to basics,” he concluded.