India's Bowlers Lack Confidence, Says Furious Sunil Gavaskar
Indian bowlers were guilty of bowling rather short repeatedly as Australia smashed their way to 371 runs in a warm-up match. Sunil Gavaskar feels the defending champions must address the issue ahead of the World Cup.
Australia smashed 371 against a hapless Indian bowling in the first warm-up match ahead of the World Cup, on Sunday. The brutality of the batting carnage greatly exposed the weaknesses of the defending champions, leaving former India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar exasperated. (Blog - India vs Australia: Warm-up)
Asked to field at the Adelaide Oval, the Indians were guilty of bowling too short, too frequently. As a result, David Warner was first off the block to attack - smashing 104 off 83. While he eventually fell to the spin of young Axar Patel, Glenn Maxwell took over and upped the batting ante - aided greatly by ordinary bowling. "All I saw were short balls today. Where were the Yorkers?," asked Gavaskar during the innings break. "I think the bowlers lack the confidence to pitch it up. They think they may be hit out of the park but that should not be the logic at all." (ICC Approves Mohit as Replacement for Ishant)
Despite a clear lack of experimentation from the Indian bowlers, the ball went sailing out on several occasions. Maxwell, for instance, took just 19 balls to race from 50 to 100. It had a direct impact on Australia's already solid run-rate, as the hosts scored 103 off the final 50 deliveries. (India Have Good Chance to Retain World Cup: Kirsten)
While the Australians are considered strong favourites to win the World Cup and Sunday's batting shows exactly why, India's bowling can humiliate the team going forward. Gavaskar though continues to hope that much-needed repairs can work. "There is still some time left. This was only a practice match. The team can fix the problems before the World Cup begins officially," he said.