Chahal, Bumrah deserve to play Test cricket: Gavaskar
NEW DELHI: Sunil Gavaskar was all praise for Yuzvendra Chahal and Jasprit Bumrah after the bowling duo guided India to a historic T20 series victory over New Zealand on Tuesday.
During an interaction with NDTV, Gavaskar said, “They were fantastic (Jasprit Bumrah and Yuzvendra Chahal in final T20 International). They brought their Indian Premier League experience into play.”
Chasing a target of 68 runs, in eight overs, in the rain-curtailed 3rd T20 encounter in Thiruvananthapuram, the Kiwis could only manage 61/6, thanks to brilliant performances from the two youngsters. Jasprit Bumrah took two important wickets to stop New Zealand’s i nitial momentum and Yuzvendra Chahal conceded just five in the sixth over to put more pressure on the Kiwi batsmen.
Gavaskar was impressed with Bumrah and Chahal keeping their composure in pressure situations. He added that the duo should be given a chance to prove their worth in Tests as well. “Both of them (Jasprit Bumrah and Yuzvendra Chahal) should be considered for the Test matches too,” he said.
The six-run win in the third T20 clash was even more special win for Virat Kohli & Co as it was the first time that they were able to win a T20 series against New Zealand.
Before the series, they had never beaten New Zealand in a T20 match and that jinx was finally broken in Ashish Nehra’s farewell game in New Delhi.
Gavaskar added that this Indian cricket team has the potential to become the most dominant side in the country’s history. “It’s a significant series win considering our record against New Zealand till now and I believe that this team has got the potential to be the most dominant Indian cricket team ever,” he said.
MS Dhoni’s spot in the Indian T20 cricket team has become a major point of discussion between former Indian cricketers. Dhoni’s inability to play big shots during the India-new Zealand 2nd T20 encounter in Rajkot prompted Ajit Agarkar and VVS Laxman to hint at his possible exclusion from the side.
However, Gavaskar believes that there is still cricket left in MS Dhoni and his importance in the side is clear from the amount of respect he receives from Virat Kohli. “Virat (Kohli) has backed Dhoni completely and we can see that in crunch situations, he even allows Dhoni to set the field. This is a big vote of confidence and is what a player of Dhoni’s calibre deserves,” he said.