'What was the hurry?' - Sunil Gavaskar on Deepak Chahar's dismissal attempting rash shot in final SA ODI

Team India agonizingly fell short by five runs in the dead-rubber third ODI against South Africa at Newlands, Cape Town on Sunday and as a result of this loss, they were whitewashed in the 50-overs format of the just-concluded tour. At one stage, it looked as if the margin of defeat would be much heavier had it not been for lower-order batter Deepak Chahar’s valiant knock of a 34-ball 54 at a strike rate of nearly 159 including five boundaries and a couple of maximums.

Even though Chahar brought India within touching distance, batting legend Sunil Gavaskar has criticized the bowling all-rounder for needlessly throwing away his wicket when it mattered the most.

“The way the last 10 overs were turning out, it seemed as if South Africa would find it tough to win. But the way they kept their composure. The pressure was on them after Lungi Ngidi conceded a few runs. But after that, some of the shots we saw, maybe you could say- ‘what was the hurry? Deepak Chahar played such a wonderful inning, had almost pulled the match. We needed just 10 runs and some 18 balls were left. You could have taken singles and won the game. At that time, what was the need to play the big shot?, wondered Sunil Gavaskar while speaking on Sports Tak.

I am not faulting Deepak Chahar, says Sunil Gavaskar

At the same time, the 1983 World Cup winner also made it clear that he is not finding any fault in Deepak Chahar and reckoned that with the runs required being lesser than the number of deliveries left, it would have been sensible to deal in singles instead of going for fours and sixes.

“I am not faulting him. I am just saying that today the thinking is such that if you have to achieve a win, you do it only through fours and sixes. Not through singles. And because of this, the match which was in India’s hands slipped out of it. I am not criticising. I am just questioning this thinking that has crept into the minds of people. If you win by taking singles, people won’t say a thing. But if you hit fours, they’ll say ‘look, he hit a boundary to win the match. Look, he hit a six to win the match.’ The urge to hear these cheers is why no one wants to take singles and win the match”, he added.

Post Chahar’s dismissal, the remaining batters also threw away their wickets attempting big shots as the Proteas pulled off an unlikely win with four balls to spare.