Sunil Gavaskar says Indian team should not forget defeat to Australia amid IPL fever

New Delhi: India suffered a 21-run defeat in the third and final ODI in Chennai on Wednesday, losing the series 1-2 to Australia. Legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar said that the Indian team should not make the mistake of forgetting this defeat in the excitement of the IPL starting March 31. Legendary batsman Gavaskar said Rohit Sharma’s men could face the same rivalry again in the 50-over World Cup to be hosted by the country in October-November.

Sunil Gavaskar told ‘Star Sports’, ‘Definitely, now the IPL (from March 31) is starting. This should not be forgotten. India may occasionally commit the mistake of forgetting it, but one should not because in the World Cup, we may face Australia again. The defeat in the third ODI was due to pressure. The boundary scoring had stopped and the Indian batsmen were unable to score even a single run. When this happens, you try to play something that you are not used to. This is what they have to see.

Chasing 270 for victory, the Indian team was bundled out for 248 in 49.1 overs, losing the match as well as the series. For India, a 69-run stand for the third wicket between Virat Kohli (54 runs) and KL Rahul (32 runs) and a 65-run partnership between openers Rohit Sharma (30 runs) and Shubman Gill (37 runs) was crucial. Former Indian captain Gavaskar said, ‘When you are chasing a target of 270 runs or around 300 runs, you need a partnership of around 90 or 100 runs so that you get closer to the target. But this did not happen.’

He said, ‘Yes, there were two partnerships during the match, one between Rahul and Kohli, but you needed another partnership of similar or bigger runs. Australia’s fielding was also excellent. His bowling was very good. He bowled tight, ‘stump to stump’, but his fielding was also very good. This was the difference.

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