New Delhi. Former great Indian batsman Sunil Gavaskar believes that India has reduced its chances of winning the fourth Test match of the five-match series by giving Australia’s lower order a chance to add important runs. Australia had at one time lost eight wickets for 156 runs but the team scored 228 runs for nine wickets on the fourth day of the Boxing Day Test. The team’s total lead has become 333 runs. This has made this match interesting.
Gavaskar told ‘India Today’, “I think India missed the opportunity. India definitely had the upper hand till the tea break. After this, Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon and Scott Boland disappointed the Indian bowlers. Australia has taken a lead of 333 runs, making it very difficult for India to win the match. If we had dismissed the lower order batsmen early, we would have had to chase the target of 260-270 runs and perhaps we would have scored 30-40 runs in one hour of batting on Sunday.
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Gavaskar said, “Now we have to concentrate on taking the last wicket because Australia will not declare the innings so early on its own.” When asked if India can still win this match, Gavaskar said, “We chased 329 runs on the last day at Gabba in 2021. For this we will need a good start. We will need the kind of start that Virender Sehwag gives to the team.
Let us tell you that Australia’s number 8, 10 and 11 batsmen played about 35 balls. In this, Cummins (41 runs in 90 balls), Lyon (41 runs not out in 54 balls) and Boland (10 runs not out in 65 balls) made important contributions in the team’s second innings. It remains to be seen how many more runs he can score till the fifth day.
Tags: India vs Australia, sunil gavaskar
FIRST PUBLISHED : December 29, 2024, 10:40 PM IST