Batting for England, Gavaskar condemned former Indian skipper Tom Banton for wasting a review on Wednesday in the third and final ODI. The left-hander was deceived by Kuldeep Yadav with a slower-boller slower delivery. As Banton came forward to defend, the ball altered course as though it had slipped off the bat on its journey toward keeper KL Rahul. The umpire raised his fingers after a loud appeal for caught behind. Banton wasn’t so sure about whether he has nicked it, and he then consulted Root about the whole thing
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Eventually, Banton thought to call for a review, and the replays later confirmed that indeed he nicked it. But Gavaskar was not too pleased on him for wasting review.
“Are you serious? going for a review despite nicking it; how can a batter be absolutely unsure he has not edged it and bat is not even near the boot/pad/ground? This is international cricket. It is not school cricket where one might miss sometimes,” was how Gavaskar was heard announced on air.
Banton was added to the England squad in place of an injured Jacob Bethell, and he will now follow the team to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy 2023.
As India thrashed England by 142 runs in the last ODI to sweep the series 3-0, England’s chase of India’s score of 356 ended in just 214 runs under the lights in Ahmedabad.
India’s Shreyas Iyer had a series total of 181 runs, second only to India’s vice-captain Shubman Gill, who dazzled with a hundred in the final match. After the match, Iyer confessed that he would have loved to finish the series with a century to his name. After scores of 78, 59, and 44, Iyer hit 78 in the final ODI.
“All I wanted to do in this first game was to shift the momentum to our side, I played each ball by its merit. Backed my own instincts now in the second game managed to get me run out but today I was given the opportunity to enter the middle phase on the excellent platform of Shubman and Rohit. I would have liked to score a hundred. It’s not always pulls and cuts; it’s the balls close to the body where you get runs as singles. The dressing is constant, electric, and very energetic with everybody in the excellent shape and momentum for the Champions Trophy,” said Iyer in the post-match interview.
Now the Indian team will travel to Dubai for their Champions Trophy, starting on February 19.
