The Indian team suffered a humiliating loss against Sri Lanka in the first Test match of the series in Galle by 63 runs when the men in blue were the favourites to take a 1-0 lead.
The Indian team had to score a meagre 176 runs for a win, but the batsmen crumbled under pressure in the fourth innings of the Test with only three batsmen – Ajinkya Rahane, Shikhar Dhawan and nightwatchman Ishant Sharma – scoring double figures.
But one has to give credit the way Rangana Hearth bowled to the Indian batsmen, who failed to read his deliveries and lost wickets at regular intervals.
Prior to the series, Indian cricketers, primarily Virat Kohli along with team director Ravi Shastri was talking about playing aggressive cricket, but former cricketer Sunil Gavaskar took a dig at the team asking them to perform on the field.
"We should now stop talking about aggression and tentativeness. We should just focus on the game and it is important to play good cricket," NDTV quoted Gavaskar as saying.
But, one fails to understand India's loss when they were on a winning position from Day 1 of the Test match. Is it their failure to perform in the fourth innings or their lack of ability to play quality spinners?
"It would have to be one of the terrible losses that India have suffered. If you get a big lead like this, then you expect to win the match. But despite that, India failed to step up while bowling and batting in the second innings," said Gavaskar.
However, India needs to forget the dismal fourth innings performance and come up with a better outing in the second Test match, which starts on 20 August in Colombo.
Gavaskar feels that the team can be demoralised by their first Test loss, hence Kohli and Shastri needs to help the players. Gavaskar also believes that the team can bounce back.
"This is the kind of loss that can demoralise the team. Virat and Ravi Shastri need to lift the morale of the team. The Indian team has the talent to bounce back, they just have to start believing in themselves."
