The Indian team recently suffered a first-ever Test series whitewash on home soil at the hands of New Zealand, who won the series by 0-3. The Indian batters struggled against the Kiwi bowling attack throughout the 3 Tests, who made a better use of the conditions than the Men in Blue.
Legendary Indian batter Sunil Gavaskar believes that the Indian batters weren’t ready for the series and gave the example of how Sachin Tendulkar prepared himself for an important series back in 1998.
India took on the mighty Australia for a home Test series back in 1998. Sachin prepared for the crucial series by playing in warm-up games for Mumbai in Ranji Trophy.
“That’s the reason why Sachin Tendulkar was Sachin Tendulkar. He was so fiercely proud of what he could do and what he wanted to do for the team. Don’t forget the 200 at the Brabourne Stadium for Ranji champions Mumbai and the visiting Australian team,” said Gavaskar as quoted by India Today.
“Then when he went to Chennai, he asked Laxman Sivaramakrishnan to come and go around the wicket, create a rough around that area so that he could practise that slog sweep and the inside out shot against Shane Warne,” Gavaskar added.
“So that is the kind of preparation why Sachin Tendulkar has got almost 16,000 runs in test cricket and 100 international centuries. So, I think that is the kind of preparation that everybody needs to do. If you don’t do it then with the gaps that are there will always be that little body speed and back speed situation, which takes a long time to get back,” Gavaskar concluded.
The Men in Blue’s next Test opponents will be Australia, who currently sit on top of the World Test Championship (WTC) points table, while India got pushed back to the second spot following the series whitewash to New Zealand. The upcoming 5-match Border-Gavaskar series is something that no cricket fan would want to miss.
