England underestimated the Indian team and it cost them dearly in the series – Sunil Gavaskar

Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar believes that the England cricket team and English media thought more about the upcoming Ashes series rather than concentrating on the present challenge posed by Team India.

The legendary batsman feels this thinking has led to their downfall in this series as India now lead 2-1, with one match to go. India can win the series if they manage to avoid a defeat in the fifth Test, while England can only draw the series even if they emerge victorious in the final match.

During his review of the Oval Test on AajTak, Sunil Gavaskar opened up about the mistakes made by the English team.He said: “Pressure will be on Root in the fifth Test at Manchester because India will be heading into that match with a 2-1 psychological advantage. Another big mistake of the England team and English media was that they were talking about the Ashes series and how they want to play in that series. They should have focused on the present challenge from India instead. England underestimated the Indian team, and it eventually cost them dearly in the series as they cannot win the series now.”

Batting contributions from the tail were invaluable

Sunil Gavaskar also emphasized the importance of the contributions from the lower order players to the batting department. He explained how the knocks of Shardul Thakur, Shami, and Bumrah in this Test series helped India get to a match-winning situation and eventually win the match. Speaking about this, Gavaskar said: 

“If India had made only 380 runs in their second innings, England would have had to chase a score of around 280. That would have meant less pressure on them as compared to chasing 368. So those useful contributions from the tail were very crucial. First, we saw in Lords and now in this Test match.”

The original “Little Master” also felt the useful batting contributions from the lower order gave the bowlers a huge boost of confidence before they came on the field to bowl.

“When bowlers score some runs in the lower order, then their confidence usually goes up even when they come back to bowl in the following innings. I am very delighted that India won a Test match at Oval after 50 years.”

India and England will now move on to Manchester for their fifth and series-deciding clash. The Old Trafford cricket ground will host the match from September 10 to September 14. Ravi Shastri, the Head Coach, will be out of the 5th test owing to a quarantine stay.