Effort could have been better with the new ball: Sunil Gavaskar hits out at Indian fast bowlers | Cricket News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: India endured a tough outing on the first day of the fourth Test with Australia dishing out a disciplined effort with the bat and finishing at 255/4 at the close of play.
After a wicketless second session, Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Shami struck early in the last session to lead India’s fightback. As Shami uprooted Peter Handscomb off stump, India opted for the new ball in an attempt to go offensive against the visitors.
However, India’s ploy backfired as Usman Khawaja (104*) and Cameron Green (49*) stitched an unbeaten 85-run stand to put Australia in the driver’s seat at the end of the day.

Indian pacers performance in the last hour disappointed Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar as he questioned the effort that the bowlers put in and said they failed to back up the captain’s decision to take the second new ball.
“It’s best to have the conversation after a little while, not immediately. Because they will be very disappointed with their effort in the last hour after having taken the second new ball, to concede the number of runs they did and to concede the number of boundaries that they did. It was almost as if the Australians broke free when the second new ball was taken,” Gavaskar told Star Sports at the end of the day’s play.
“The first couple of overs from your new ball bowlers, that’s not what you want to see when you have got a brand new ball in your hand. The effort could have been better. I know it was a hot day, it takes a lot out of the fast bowlers. But you have got a brand new ball, playing for India, I think the effort could have been a little bit better. Any conversation about the showing can be had tomorrow morning, let the bowlers themselves mull over what they did today,” he added.