Home
Former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif was critical of Gautam Gambhir and the team management for making Washington Sundar bat in the first ODI of the series against New Zealand. Notably, the all-rounder had picked up a rib injury earlier during the match while bowling. He only bowled five overs during the Kiwis' innings before walking off the field.
Despite not being expected to bat, Sundar came in at No.8 and remained unbeaten on seven runs from as many deliveries as India reached the 301-run target with six deliveries left to spare. However, the injury would eventually become serious and would rule out Sundar from the remaining two ODIs. The uncapped Ayush Badoni was called up the the squad in his place.
Kaif lambasts team management
Kaif feels that the team management should have opted for a more protective approach with Sundar and recalled how Shubman Gill had dealt with the neck injury that he had sustained during the first Test against South Africa.
“You will remember when Shubman Gill was injured, he did not come out to bat in that Test match, the Kolkata Test. It was a high-scoring game and people thought that even 20 or 30 runs from him could help India win, but he still did not bat. That was done to give full protection to the player so the injury would not aggravate. But the same approach was not applied with Sundar," Kaif said on his YouTube channel.
"That is why I feel it was a wrong call. KL Rahul’s running between the wickets was affected. Even though India won the match, I feel there were higher chances of aggravating the injury in yesterday’s game," he added.
Kaif further said that India should have sent someone other than an injured Sundar to bat with them requiring only a few runs. He also pointed out that the latter wasn't even able to run doubles during his stay at the crease and looked to be visibly uncomfortable.
“If he is injured and you need runs at a run-a-ball, you should first try someone else. When a player is injured and you send him in under pressure, the injury can worsen. He couldn’t run doubles even though the ball was going to deep point or square leg, and he was only managing singles. Although the required run rate was around a run-a-ball and the match was under control, I felt that sending an injured player was risky. What might have been a one-week or ten-day injury could stretch to 20, 25, or even 30 days,” Kaif further said.
India look to seal the series
Meanwhile, India took a 1-0 lead in the three-match ODI series against New Zealand by winning the first game by four wickets. They will go on to seal the series if they win the second match that is set to be played on January 14 at the Niranjan Shah stadium in Rajkot.
ADVERTISEMENT
