IPL Starts Now. India Make Mistakes… – Sunil Gavaskar’s Warning For Rohit Sharma, Rahul Dravid

Chennai: India’s brilliant run in bilateral ODIs came to an end on Wednesday when Australia edged the hosts by 21 runs at Chepauk. Steve Smith-led Australia won the series 2-1. Not only will this win give the Australian team belief ahead of the ODI World Cup, but also act as a wake-up call for the Rohit Sharma-led side. Following India’s loss at Chepauk in the final ODI, former cricketer Sunil Gavaskar issued a warning to coach Rahul Dravid and captain Rohit.

Claiming that it was the pressure that got to the hosts, Gavaskar admitted that batters were forced to play something that they are not used to.

“It was the pressure created. They were not getting singles. The boundaries had dried up and they weren’t even getting singles. When that happens then you try and play something that you are not used to. That is something they will have to look at. But of course, now the IPL starts. This shouldn’t be forgotten. India sometimes makes the mistake of forgetting this, but this one shouldn’t be because in the World Cup, we may face Australia again,” said Gavaskar on Star Sports.

Gavaskar also reckoned India could not stitch the partnerships and that hurt.

“When you are chasing a score of 270 or nearly 300, you need a partnership of about 90 or 100 and that will take you close. But that didn’t happen. Yes, there were a couple of partnerships, one between Rahul and Kohli, but then you wanted another similar or bigger stand. Fielding from Australia was outstanding. Their bowling was very good. It was tight, stump to stump, but their fielding was very good. That was the difference,” said Gavaskar.