Sunil Gavaskar criticized today’s cricketers for their lack of discipline after South Africa were dismissed for 116 in the first ODI against India. He feels that it comes from having more options in the T20 League around the world to make money.
Winning the toss and batting first, the Proteas saw no resistance on a handy Wanderers wicket. They lost to their lowest ODI total at home.
Speaking to Star Sports after the match, Gavaskar elaborated on how having multiple options on the pitch made the players more comfortable.
“These days, players have options. You play for your country, you play T20 games… you can still put food on the table. So there is a tendency to go bang-bang (with the bat)! (There is a tendency) If they don’t score runs, if he doesn’t take wickets, if he gets dropped, then what? He still has a T20 contract somewhere, if not IPL, then league or others,” Gavaskar said. .
He added:
“This makes the players less responsible. They try to take the easy way out, which is going ‘bang-bang’. If they win, great. If they don’t, the whole team is out for 116. So what? There will be another game two days later. Back then, we didn’t have many options. . If we failed, we had to go back to club cricket. And there was no money in club cricket back then.”
India had no trouble chasing down the target in just 16.4 overs to defeat South Africa in the second-worst ODI (in terms of balls remaining) and take a 1-0 lead. The pace duo of Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan combined to take nine of the ten wickets with a display of pace bowling.
The poor batting display comes after he was dismissed for 95 in the last T20I at the same venue three days ago.
“We have to make wise decisions in certain situations.” – Aiden Markram
South African batsman Aiden Markram highlighted the players’ inability to see the situation and find the right direction in their dangerous game.
The players lost two wickets within the first two overs and were in danger of not reaching three figures at 58/7 in 13 overs. However, a couple of runs from the bottom and the tail saved the Proteas from further embarrassment.
On the game show, a frustrated Markram criticized the strikers and asked them if they had a positive attitude to deal with adversity.
“Strong. To win this game, to bat first if we wanted to bat well. Credit to the Indian bowlers. We were behind from the first ball. We didn’t recover. We expected it to spin a little. First 6-7, it does a little bit, today it took a long time and they played well. It comes down to individuals. It’s up to them to evaluate and plan ahead. We have to choose wisely in the situation,” said Markram.
Only four South African batsmen reached double figures, with Andile Phehlukwayo’s 33 being the winner.
The players will leave Johannesburg and travel to Gqeberha for the second ODI on Tuesday, December 19.
