Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar raised serious concerns over India’s batting despite their 29-run win over the USA in the ICC T20 World Cup opener on February 7 at the Wankhede Stadium. He said the batting collapse cannot be ignored even in victory and added that the shaky start should serve as a wake-up call, with tougher matches ahead in the tournament.
Speaking on Star Sports, Gavaskar pointed out that India did well to defend a modest total of 161. “I think 160 wouldn’thave been easy. They defended eventually by a margin of 30 runs, which is a very good margin. So there is plenty to learn — plenty to learn that yes, there is batting depth,” he said.
However, Gavaskar made it clear that the approach with the bat needs more care. He explained, “But if you’ve got eight batters, and then 9, 10, 11 are your bowlers, and out of those eight batters you lose four wickets in the first 7-8 overs, then you are going to be in trouble — against better teams, against teams who have a lot more experience of playing in World Cups and a lot more experience of T20 cricket.”
India suffered a dramatic batting collapse and were struggling at 46/4 during the powerplay. Captain Suryakumar Yadav played a crucial knock and remained unbeaten on 84, which helped India push the total to 161/9.
Gavaskar warned that such situations can prove costly in global tournaments. “Yes, there is a powerplay of six overs, but you don’t want to lose four wickets in that powerplay because that way you are putting yourself in a spot of bother.”
He also reminded that World Cup matches demand peak performance from every team. “What we must all remember is that when it comes to world events, every team raises the level of its performance, because world events don’t come every day.”
India will next face Namibia on February 12 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.
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