Indian cricket team captain Rohit Sharma© AFP

Known for not mincing his words, Indian cricket great Sunil Gavaskar sent another strong message to Rohit Sharma‘s team after its 10-wicket loss in Adelaide. India, after beating Australia in the opening Test at Perth, looked absolutely shambles against the pink-ball challenge as Australia fought back to level the series 1-1. With the match ending well inside the first three days, Gavaskar urged the likes of Rohit, Virat Kohli, and others to come out and practice, and not sit in their hotel rooms.

The 5-day Test got wrapped up in just 7 sessions (2 days and one session), but Gavaskar doesn’t want the players to rest for the next two days in their hotel rooms or wherever they plan to go. The batting legend wants both batters and bowlers to come out and do net sessions to prepare themselves for the remaining three matches of the series.

“Look at the remainder of the series as a three-match series. Forget it was a five-Test series. What I would like this Indian team to do is use the next couple of days for practice. It’s very important. You can’t be sitting in your hotel room or wherever you’re going because you have come here to play cricket,” Gavaskar said.

“You don’t have to practice the whole day. You can practice a session in the morning or afternoon, whichever time you choose, but do not waste these days. You would have been here playing a Test match if the Test match were to go on for five days.

Gavaskar didn’t shy away from calling out the Team India’s rusty performance in the pink-ball Test. In his blunt assessment, Gavaskar said that neither the batters nor the bowlers looked in rhythm in Adelaide.

“You have to get yourself that much more time to get into the rhythm because you have not got the runs. Your bowlers haven’t got the rhythm. There are others too who need time in the middle,” he added.

“This optional practice session is something that I don’t believe. The decision for optional training should rest with the captain and the coach. The coach should say, ‘Hey, you hit 150, you don’t need to come to practice. Hey, you bowled 40 overs in the match, you don’t need to come to practice.’ They should not be given the option. If you give the players that option, a lot of them, especially the certainties, will say, ‘No, I am going to stay in my room.’ And that’s not what Indian cricket needs.

Maintaining a morally high stance on the subject, Gavaskar reminded Indian cricketers that playing for the country is an honour and privilege. Hence, players shouldn’t shy away from dedicating themselves in the service of the nation.

“Indian cricket needs people who are totally dedicated to their cause. It’s an honour and privilege to be playing for India.

“I counted the number of days they will be here. It’s 57 days in Australia. Out of those 57, if you count out five matches, then you are left with 32 days, two matches for the PM XI. Thirty days, they were going to get off. They had one extra day off in Perth, now two in Adelaide.

Gavaskar, however, allowed the marquee trio of Jasprit Bumrah, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to miss the practice sessions if they wanted to because of their ‘experience’. However, he does want the youngsters to get more sessions under their belt.

“My request to them is to please come and practice. Again, Bumrah doesn’t have to practice. If Rohit and Virat don’t have to practice, that’s fine, because they are experienced players. Let the others come out and practice,” he asserted.

Indian cricket team star batter Virat Kohli was back in practice right after his side’s humiliating loss against Australia in the pink-ball Test in Adelaide. Just after the end of the match, Kohli was back in the nets as he faced deliveries from fast bowlers. Kohli slammed a brilliant century in the first Test but in Adelaide, the star batter struggled to score runs. Kohli scored just 7 and 11 in the two innings as Australia registered a huge 10-wicket victory. Legendary India skipper Sunil Gavaskar was impressed by Virat’s dedication and he said that the rest of the players also need to learn from Virat. 

“By going out in the nets today, he shows his dedication. But that is what I would like to see from everybody else. He’s not scored runs. He is very proud of what he achieves and does for India, and because he’s not scored runs in this game, he’s out in the nets.”

“He’s working hard, he’s sweating, and that is what you want to see. After that if you get out, no problem, because that’s what sport is all about. You will get runs one day, will get wickets one day, next day you will not. But you’ve got to put in the effort. He is putting in the hard yards, he is putting in the effort, and that’s why I won’t be surprised if he’s back amongst the runs in the next game,” Gavaskar said on Star Sports.

Australia maintained their unblemished record in Pink-ball Tests with an emphatic 10-wicket victory over a completely out-of-sorts India, leveling the five-Test series 1-1 within just two-and-a-half days.

This was the shortest-ever Test between India and Australia in terms of balls bowled.

Starting the day at 128 for 5, Nitish Kumar Reddy’s (42) cavalier approach prevented a second successive innings defeat under lights at Adelaide as India were bowled out for 175.

The required 19 runs were a formality which was achieved in just 3.2 overs.

India’s second innings lasted only 36.5 overs, with skipper Pat Cummins using the short ball effectively to claim 5 for 57. Scott Boland (3/51) inflicted early damage, while Mitchell Starc (2/60) chipped in with crucial wickets.

Such was the dominance of the three premier quicks that Cummins didn’t even need Mitchell Marsh and Nathan Lyon in the second innings. In fact, the specialist spinner and all-rounder bowled just five overs between them in the entire game.

After a facile 295-run win in Perth, Indian batting unit won’t be too amused to learn that they survived a total of 81 overs across both innings, which isn’t even a whole day of Test match batting.

(With PTI inputs)