Shubman Gill and KL Rahul (BCCI photo)
New Delhi: India may have registered the biggest innings victory in Test history against Afghanistan, but legendary Sunil Gavaskar believes the team’s biggest challenge lies not with the ball but with the bat.
India thrashed Afghanistan by an innings and 300 runs in the one-off Test at Mullanpur on Monday, surpassing their previous record margin of victory.
The hosts compiled 564 for 8 declared, centuries courtesy of Shubman Gill and KL Rahul, before dismissing Afghanistan for 152 and 112. New left-arm spinner Manav Suthar impressed with a match haul of seven wickets and was named man of the match.
Despite the emphatic result, Gavaskar urged the team to stop seeing themselves through the lens of transfer and instead focus on maintaining the standards expected of the Indian Test side.“It is time to move away from constantly describing this team as being in transition and instead focus on the standards expected in Test cricket,” Gavaskar said on JioStar’s ‘Cricket Live’ programme.“Every team goes through retirements, personnel changes and periods of development, but ultimately the focus must remain on performance.”India are currently without several senior players, with a younger group led by captain Shubman Gill taking on more responsibility.
However, Gavaskar said the conversation shouldn’t be about shifting forever.If we look at India’s recent performance in this format, the batting legend has identified the batting unit as the area that requires greater attention.“Looking at some of India’s recent Test results, the biggest concern has been batting rather than bowling. The bowling attack has generally done its job, but the batsmen need to show greater discipline and stronger technique, especially in difficult situations.”The former commander’s assessment comes even after India delivered a strong performance in strikes against Afghanistan. Gill and Rahul hit centuries, while Sai Sudharsen and Rishabh Pant also made significant contributions as India crossed the 550-run mark.However, Gavaskar stressed that success in one match should not distract from the broader goal of building consistency and resilience in Test cricket.He also cautioned against letting the customs of shortest lines influence decision-making in red-ball cricket.“Sometimes, there is a tendency to slip into a T20 mentality where patience becomes difficult after a few score balls, and that can lead to poor decisions.”“Test cricket requires a different approach. India’s focus going forward must be on tightening their batting, building longer innings, and focusing on the present rather than looking at every score through the lens of transformation,” he said.While Gavaskar highlighted batting discipline as a key area for improvement, India’s bowlers once again emphasized their strength. Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna struck crucial knocks with the new ball, while the trio of Suthar, Washington Sundar and Kuldeep Yadav shared 14 wickets between them.The standout performer was undoubtedly Suthar. The 23-year-old became the 10th Indian player overall and the seventh from the country to take a five-wicket haul on his first Test. His first innings figures of 6/33 were the best by an Indian on a Test debut in 38 years, and his seven wickets in the match earned him the Player of the Match award.