Daily Times

Sunil Gavaskar, the great batsman, slammed Virat Kohli after Team India’s humiliating loss to Australia in the World Test Championship (WTC) Final on Sunday. As Scott Boland ignited Team India’s batting collapse, Kohli could only add five runs to his overnight score of 44. Boland took advantage of Kohli’s weak point by luring him into a cover drive. On any other day, Kohli would have chosen to play against the shot, but this time he couldn’t resist the urge to use his favorite shot. He went for the shot but only found a thick edge towards the slip, and Steve Smith dived low to his right to make a spectacular catch.

Gavaskar lashed out at Kohli’s dismissal while analyzing the game.

“It was a pretty ordinary shot. Outside the off stump. He was leaving till then. Maybe he was conscious that he needed one run to reach his half-century. It happens when you are nearing a milestone.” said Gavaskar on Star Sports.

“It happened to Jadeja. He played a delivery he shouldn’t have when he was (on) 48. Happened to Ajinkya Rahane who was 46. He hadn’t played that shot all this while. Suddenly why do you play that shot? Because you are aware of that landmark.”

“It was a bad shot. You should ask Kohli what shot he played. He talks so much about how to win a match you need a long innings. How are you going to do that if you play a ball so far outside the off stump?” he added.

Team India lost seven wickets in an extended morning session at The Oval while chasing a mammoth target of 444. Australia won the match by 209 runs.

Ajinkya Rahane and Shardul Thakur attempted to form another partnership to keep India’s innings from unraveling. Their desperate counterattack, however, came to an end when Rahane was bowled by Mitchell Starc. His dismissal was similar to Kohli’s, an unnecessary shot that comfortably carried behind the stumps. Rahane’s fairytale comeback to the Indian Test team ended with a score of 46 (108).

Nathan Lyon was introduced into the attack after Thakur fell for a five-ball duck in the next over. Umesh Yadav and KS Bharat made it through a few overs.

But Umesh lacked an answer to Starc’s lethal pace bowling attack. Yadav returned to the pavilion with a score of one.

With a defeat on the horizon, Mohammad Shami entertained the crowd by hitting two consecutive boundaries. Siraj attempted a reverse sweep shot, but the ball landed directly in the hands of Boland.