‘If any big name thinks India can’t win without him…’: Gavaskar’s hard hit | Cricket

Sunil Gavaskar feels that India’s win over Australia three years ago and last home series win against England can be kept in the same category. It’s hard to disagree with Gavaskar’s assessment. Barring the conditions and opposition, there are uncanny similarities between the India vs Australia series in 2020-21 and the ongoing India vs England Test series.

India were hammered in the first Test in Adelaide – they were bowled out for their lowest Test score of 36 in the second innings. Then-captain Virat Kohli was home for the birth of his first child and injuries preyed on one big player after another throughout the four-match series.

First Mohammed Shami, then Umesh Yadav, then third Test heroes Ravichandran Ashwin and Hanuma Vihari all got injured. But in came Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar and Shardul Thakur. They were brilliantly led by Ajinkya Rahane who had two extremely decisive individuals in Cheteshwar Pujara and Jasprit Bumrah to support them. India has scripted a miracle of sorts. After losing the first Test horribly, they won the next Test in Melbourne, drew the second in Sydney and then breached the Gabba to win the series 2-1 – India’s consecutive Test series in Australia, something no team had done before.

Take out Australia’s conditions, replace Pat Cummins with Ben Stokes, Steve Smith with Joe Root and you have the same plot for the India vs England Test series.

A few days before the Test series, Kohli missed the first two matches due to personal reasons. The next three would also remain unavailable and it was later revealed that the personal reason was the birth of her second child – resemblance anyone? Shami and Pant were already out with injuries.

What else could go wrong? Of course, losing the first test. Trailing by 190 after the first innings, India lost to England in Hyderabad – the first time India had lost a Test at home by more than 100 runs.

They lost KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja for the next Test due to injuries. But the answer? Victory by 106 runs. A new star is born in Yashasvi Jaiswal. Just like in Australia, injuries kept plaguing one key player or another, Test caps were handed out like a distressed sale, but India kept winning.

In the third Test at Rajkot, they defeated England by 434 runs – the Three Lions’ biggest defeat in their Test history. The next Test was a close one but India won by 5 wickets to take the series 3-1 with one Test to spare.

Ahead of the fifth and final assignment in Dharamsala, Gavaskar fondly recalled the similarities between the Australian tour and now.

“India missed a lot of big names in Australia but they still managed to get a fantastic win not only at the Gabba but also in Melbourne. They came back after being bowled out for 36 matches. After the win in Melbourne they fought hard to save Sydney. Test match. If Rishabh Pant stays at the crease for half an hour , then India could have won this match too. But the grit, resilience, tenacity and determination shown by the young Indian players on the Australian tour was evident this time too. England,” he said on Sports Tak.

Gavaskar hails Rohit and Dravid for guiding youngsters

India had five debutants in Australia – Shubman Gill, Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Washington Sundar and T Natarajan. They already have four – Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Yureli and Akash Deep – in this home series against England.

Without naming any names, the legendary Gavaskar said that cricket is a team game and if anyone thinks that a team cannot do without him, then these two series are the biggest answer to that.

“That’s why I always say, you don’t need big names… If any big name thinks India can’t win without him, these two series have shown that whether you’re there or not (doesn’t matter). Cricket is a team sport, it does not depend on one individual,” he said.

Gavaskar praised captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid for guiding the youngsters.

“Credit must go to the way captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid have managed the team. They have given chances to young players, shaped them and encouraged them to play their natural game. It shows if we have big names. If we have players with big heart , then we can win.”