Sunil Gavaskar: All Praise For Virat Kohli

Sunil Gavaskar

India put on an inspiring display of aggression and patience to choke Australia by 75 runs in the 2nd Test in Bengaluru on Tuesday and level the series 1-1.

Sunil Gavaskar was quite impressed with the captaincy skills of Virat Kohli as he talked to NDTV about it.

He said,”Virat’s captaincy was brilliant in Australia’s second innings. In the first innings, his captaincy was a lot to be desired like in the bowling changes he made. But in the second innings he was spot on. I will give him 10 out of 10. This time (in the Australian second innings) Virat used the opening bowlers in short spells and he kept R Ashwin at one end. His field placing were also spot on.”

He also spoke about the performance of other Indian Players, “The Test had all the ingredients to be considered as a very, very good one. It was a gripping contest. The bowlers bowled well, there were runs from the batsmen and fielding was also quite good. Wicket-keeping of Wriddhiman Saha was first class. It was also a very good result for India.”

He also looked quite impressed with the partnership of Pujara and Rahane which was instrumental in pulling India out of danger.

Former Captain Gavaskar said,”It was a brilliant fight back by the Indians. India conceded a first innings lead of 87 runs which was very big lead under the circumstances. The 100-plus run partnership between Pujara and Rahane was the crucial one and they gave India the extra runs. Of course, India added not many runs today. I think they were overconfident today and they should not do that again.”

On the performance of Ashwin he said,”It’s full credit to Ashwin. I thought he was worked up in the first innings and he was seen rushing through overs. However, in the Australian second innings, he took time in between deliveries and he was fantastic.”

As it was predicted, India displayed a commanding display of sportsmanship to win the 2nd test match to level the 4-match test series 1-1.