‘Virat’s India can be greatest in ODIs’
NEW HEIGHTS Sunil Gavaskar has lauded the allround ability of the Indian team that has become No 1 in ODIs
A few months before India begin their long overseas tour of South Africa, England and Australia, former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar labelled Virat Kohli’s team as the one which may become one of India’s ‘greatest ever’ in ODIs.
India on Sunday, became the No 1 ODI team with a five-wicket victory over Australia in the third game of their five-match series.
This is the first time that India have simultaneously occupied the top spot in two formats. In T20Is, however, India are languishing at the fifth spot.
Gavaskar, who has been very impressed with the current Indian side, told NDTV, “Well, comparisons are not quite correct but this is a very, very good team. I think by the time this team finishes, it is going to go down as the greatest Indian oneday team ever.”
GOOD BALANCE
He added, “Because the balance is so good. The batting is right down to number 8 or 9. You have bowlers who can bowl whatever, whenever they are asked and therefore, I think you take all aspects into consideration and you know that this is a really, really special team, captained by a very special player.”
Gavaskar added that Australia, struggling on all fronts, is not as weak as the Sri Lankan side that was blanked 5-0 by India earlier this month.
“The Sri Lankan team wasn’t a very strong team and that’s only fair but this Australian team is an experienced team. Probably not the same kind of batting line-up as (Matthew) Hayden, (Adam) Gilchrist or (Ricky) Ponting, Michael Clarke, Mike Hussey were there but I think this is a very good Australian team,” he said.
“What Australia are missing at the moment is one more batsman who can make a difference and they are missing one more bowler,” Gavaskar added.
“This India team as Virat Kohli said, is going to be ruthless and they are going to be relentless, they are going to be pursuing victory in every game and the fact that in all three games they were put under pressure, which never happened apart from one game in Sri Lanka, when Dhoni and Bhuvneshwar Kumar took them home. Over here in all three games they were put under some sort of pressure but to come through and go on to win easily is the hallmark of a great team, a champion team,” the former Indian cricketer said.
Gavaskar also pointed a finger at Glenn Maxwell, whose lack of runs have hurt Australia in this series. “They don’t seem to have a batsman at the moment who can play the big innings, who can play the defining innings, who can play the impact innings,” he said.
Gavaskar explained, “Yes, Maxwell will come and hit the odd boundary, maybe he will score runs in 10-15 innings but he is not what you call a dependable player at 5 or 6. So that is something that the Australians are lacking. Because earlier on, they had Mike Hussey batting at 5 or 6 and who would take them to a big total. They had Michael Bevan at 5 or 6 who would take them to a big total. So that is what they are missing out on.”
With the series already lost, Australia will look to salvage pride in the remaining ODIs.
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