Former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has urged the Indian team management to plug gaps after their back-to-back defeats in the ongoing Asia Cup. Gavaskar also asked the fans to back the ‘Men-in-blue’ and encourage them before the upcoming 20-20 world cup in Australia.
Gavaskar’s statement came after India received a humiliating loss at the hands of Sri Lanka in the Super 4 stage of the Asia Cup on Tuesday. Sri Lanka registered a thumping victory by 6 wickets and brought India to the cusp of elimination from the tournament. India’s chances of making the final now rest on the results of the matches of other teams.
“Let’s get behind this Indian team. Give them encouragement. Yes, okay fine, this has happened, but what is more important now? The T20 World Cup. Because after 2007, India have not won the T20 World Cup. India have won the Asia Cup quite a number of times. It’s time to get behind and tell them it’s happened, but please see the areas you can improve and plug those gaps,” Sunil Gavaskar told India Today.
Team India led by Rohit Sharma, had a great start to their Asia Cup campaign winning both of their group stage matches. However, they went to lose two consecutive matches in the Super 4 stage. Before their loss to Sri Lanka on Tuesday, they lost a crucial game against arch-rivals Pakistan on Sunday.
The consecutive losses have once again raised questions on the team’s ability to win multi-national tournaments. There was a change in captaincy and head coach after India’s first stage exit from the last year’s 20-20 world cup. But the change in leadership hasn’t worked wonders for the Men-in-blue.
After the Asia Cup, India have two back-to-back three-match T20I series against Australia and South Africa as their final preparations for the upcoming 20-20 world cup in Australia. Injury to the star all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja have further exacerbated the situation for India. The team management have many questions to answer in the coming weeks before they announce the squad for the marquee event.
