Former India captain and Test opener Sunil Gavaskar spoke to The Indian Express after India lost the Test series to New Zealand 3-0. Despite the thrashing at home, Gavaskar says with the tour of Australia coming up it is important to back the team but adds that India should play warm-up games Down Under, even between Test matches when there is a longer break. Even the best of players go through bad patches, so ‘just forget’ the series loss at home like it was a bad dream’, he says. Excerpts:
A whitewash at home, what is your first reaction?
Gavaskar: One can understand losing a Test match, which has happened before but all three Test matches are tough to take. But we have to back the team because we have a big tour ahead. We can’t start criticising the team. Yes, it’s very disappointing. We all know how good these players have been over so many years. So what I would say to them is ‘just forget it like it was a bad dream’. Just totally focus on Australia. Go there, practice with purpose and the intent of winning a series for the third time. Whether you win 1-0, 2-0, 2-1, whatever. That’s the one thing that will lift the Indian cricket-loving public.
Occasionally, when they don’t play well and I am on air, I will say that they haven’t played well. I would also urge everybody around not to get critical about what has happened. They have done India proud over so many years.
Are you concerned about the form of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli?
Gavaskar: Even the best of players go through bad patches. These weren’t easy pitches to bat on in all three matches. Except, perhaps, the second innings in Bengaluru. Sometimes you need a bit of luck… like you make the first mistake and the ball goes only near the stump. Somebody drops a catch, a close LBW goes in your favour. All these things can happen. But when going through a bad patch, everything goes against you. Somebody takes a brilliant catch, you get a great delivery. I won’t read too much into it. But they have cancelled the three-day warm-up game (in Australia). I really do believe that they should have a warm-up game.
In the gaps between Test matches, they really should have warm-up games. Not necessarily for the senior players. But for the junior players who have never played in Australia before. For the Yashasvi Jaiswals, the Sarfaraz Khans, the Dhruv Jurels, all these young batters. Even against an Australia A team or a state side like Queensland. Juniors must be given the opportunity to get used to the bounce and pitches in Australia.
There is talk that Indian batsmen defend with a hard hand. What’s your take on it?
Gavaskar: I think they got good deliveries. You can’t turn around and say anybody played with hard hands. I mean, look at the first innings dismissal of Rohit Sharma. He was turned square by the ball which bounced and moved away. Yes, the second innings, the shot was not a great shot. But I think the others, they got great deliveries. Nothing technically wrong. It’s just that New Zealand played superb cricket.
Do you think we should go with traditional Test match pitches on which the game lasts longer?
Gavaskar: We have such a lovely balanced attack. We’ve got a very good new-ball attack. We’ve got world-class spinners. Between Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin, there were 900-plus wickets in Test cricket. So therefore going into a match with a pitch that wears off gradually, where it starts turning maybe on the fourth day, would give India a better chance. Also in either innings, whether you bat first or whether you bat second, it still gives your batters the chance to go for a win.
And the players nowadays don’t play late like you used to do?
Gavaskar: I think it’s more to do with the mindset. Where people are looking to get onto the front foot and hit the ball. So, therefore, even against fast bowlers, you very seldom see the depth of the crease being used. If you use the depth of the crease, you can play the cut shot and the pull shot. But it’s a modern way so you can’t really say that this is right or this is wrong.
In hindsight, do you believe they should have played Duleep Trophy before the Bangladesh series started?
Gavaskar: They should have had some practice, definitely. It’s a long gap. I know we beat Bangladesh and therefore it looked as if it’s going to be a cakewalk against New Zealand. But New Zealand obviously had the better attack. And players who play in India, in the IPL, have a sense of what Indian pitches do.
Almost half the New Zealand side played here during various stages of the IPL. So, they have an idea of what the pitches do. Unlike Bangladesh because I think Bangladesh only had Shakib Al Hasan and even he hasn’t played IPL for the last 2 or 3 years.
Do you think Rohit Sharma was a bit casual?
Gavaskar: I think, with somebody who has got time to play the shots like he has and the elegance he has, people generally tend to misinterpret that (as casual). It used to happen with David Gower all the time. Lovely, easy on the eye batsman. So, every time he got out, they would say, ‘oh, he doesn’t bother’. They all care about their wicket. They all want to score as many runs as possible. It’s just that their batting looks so simple and their dismissals also therefore look that way. But it’s just a natural way for them. Can’t point fingers.
What piece of advice do you give to the youngsters traveling to Australia for the first time?
Gavaskar: Just believe in yourself. Practice as much as you can. I think there is some merit in facing throwdowns. But it is more important to play regular bowling. Face the quicker bowlers. Not (Jasprit) Bumrah, of course, because Bumrah can kill you. But you can ask others to bowl from 20 yards instead of 22 yards. So therefore, the ball comes on to the bat quickly. And you will get used to it. That is what I would say to the batsmen. In five-day games you have to be patient and you will score runs. Australian pitches are the best pitches to bat on after the new ball is done. And nowadays, the new ball is only swinging and moving for 10-12 overs.
(LEFT) Indian cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar; (RIGHT) Indian cricket team players stand in a huddle during the third Test against New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium. (PHOTOS: File, Express Photo by Amit Chakravarty) 
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