Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has slammed the Australian selectors for their decision making while picking the team for the first two Tests against India in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy. While the Australian team has been targetted by former players and experts, following the defeats in the first two Tests, Gavaskar feels that the selectors should take the blame for picking up injured players in the squad. Australia trail India 1-2 in the four-match series, having won the third Test in Indore by 9 wickets.
Gavaskar, in his column for Sportstar, said that the Australian selectors should resign, even if the visitors make a strong comeback and level the series.
"While the ex-Australian players on the various media platforms are having a real go at their players, the ones who should be the real targets are the Australian selectors. How can they pick three players (Hazlewood, Starc, and Cameron Green) who they knew would not be available for selection for the first two Test matches? That is, for half the series, the team management had only 13 players to pick from," Gavaskar wrote before the conclusion of the third Test.
"Then they fly in a newcomer when they had a similar player already in the team. If they didn't think the player in the team was good enough, why did they pick him in the first place? That meant the team management was picking their 11 from 12 players. Ridiculous. If they have any sense of responsibility the selectors should resign even if Australia make a stunning comeback and win the next two Tests and level the series," he added.
Speaking of the third Test, Australia outplayed India on a rank-turner last week to reduce the deficit to 2-1.
With the win, Australia booked their place in the final of the World Test Championship (WTC).