Sunil Gavaskar and Arshdeep Singh (Image credit: X)
Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar criticised West Indies fast bowler Shamar Joseph after a delivery struck Arshdeep Singh on the shoulder during the fourth T20I in Hyderabad on Wednesday. Gavaskar also called on India's batters to take greater responsibility after the hosts lost the match by 24 runs.
The defeat levelled the five-match series and set up a decider in Bengaluru on Saturday.West Indies scored 247 for three before bowling India out for 223. Keemo Paul took five wickets, while captain Shai Hope led the visitors with an unbeaten 102 off 50 balls.
The incident took place towards the end of India's chase. A bouncer from Joseph hit Arshdeep on the shoulder, leaving the Indian pacer in pain.Despite the discomfort, Arshdeep continued batting with India needing 30 runs off the final ball.
Captain Shreyas Iyer also urged him to retire hurt and leave the field, but Arshdeep chose to stay.On the next delivery, Arshdeep moved away from his stumps and tried to hit the ball for a boundary. Joseph bowled another short delivery towards his injured shoulder. This time, the ball missed Arshdeep and went away for four byes and a wide.Joseph's approach drew a sharp reaction from Gavaskar in the commentary box. The former India captain questioned why the West Indies pacer was bowling at the batter when his stumps were left unprotected.
"He is aiming at him," Gavaskar was heard saying on air. "Why attack the batter when the stumps are right there?"“If he is not ok, he should retire. He seems to be in pain. You do not want to aggravate that injury,” said Gavaskar.“Would it not be simpler to just aim at the stumps? He knows that he is moving away to the left. Just aim at the stumps. Don’t aim at him. He is aiming at him,” a furious Gavaskar saidArshdeep could not continue after the incident and was retired hurt on five.
His injury could be a concern for India ahead of Saturday's series decider.Gavaskar also expressed concern over India's batting performance during the chase. Despite a quick start from Sanju Samson, the hosts failed to reach the target.
The former captain said the batting unit needed to improve its approach when chasing big totals.“The first thing this Indian side needs to improve is how they chase. The batting unit needs to show more responsibility.
If the batters don’t take responsibility, this Indian side will not succeed,” Gavaskar told JioStar.He felt India should have shown greater control with the bat, especially in conditions that were expected to help the chasing side.“On a pitch like this, with the dew coming in, you have to show the kind of dominance with the bat that a back-to-back T20 World Cup winning team should, but that was missing completely in this game,” he added.The fourth T20I win levelled the series, leaving both teams with everything to play for in the fifth and final match.The series decider will be played at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday.