"Not School Cricket": Sunil Gavaskar Fiery On-Air Rant As England Star Does This
Sunil Gavaskar didn't mince his words while blasting the England batter.
Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar blasted England batter Tom Banton for wasting a review in the third and final ODI on Wednesday. Spinner Kuldeep Yadav outfoxed Banton with a flighted wrong'un delivery. As Banton went forward to defend, the ball turned away and seemed to have trickled the bat on its way to the keeper KL Rahul. After a loud appeal for caught behind, the umpire raised his fingers. However, Banton wasn't sure if he had nicked it, and consulted Root over the same.
In the end, Banton decided to review it, but replays later confirmed that he had indeed nicked it. However, Gavaskar wasn't happy with him wasting a review.
"Are you serious? taking a review when you've nicked the ball. How can a batter not know when he has nicked the ball, especially when the bat has not hit the boot, pad or the ground? This is international cricket. This is not school cricket where you sometimes might not know," Gavaskar was heard as saying on-air.
Banton, who was added to England's squad following an injury to Jacob Bethell, will now travel with the team to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy.
Meanwhile, India thumped England by 142 runs in the final ODI to complete a 3-0 series sweep. Responding to India's 356, England could only manage 214 under the lights in Ahmedabad.
India batter Shreyas Iyer ended the series with 181 runs, India's second highest after vice-captain Shubman Gill, who dazzled with a century in the final game. Speaking after the match, Iyer admitted that he would've loved to end the series with a century to his name. Iyer hit 78 in the final ODI after registering scores of 59 and 44 in the first two matches.
"In the first game, I wanted to take the momentum to our team, I played every ball on its merit. I backed my instincts, in the second game I got run out but today I got the opportunity to go in in the middle on a good platform from Shubman and Rohit. I wish I could have got a hundred. It's not the pulls and the cuts all the time, it's the balls close to the body where you get singles. The dressing-room is electrifying, a lot of energy, everyone in great form, momentum for the Champions Trophy," Iyer said after the match.
The Indian team will now travel to Dubai for the Champions Trophy, starting February 19.
India Cricket Team
England Cricket Team
Sunil Gavaskar