Sunil Gavaskar thinks England underestimated Team India

The Indian cricket Team sealed yet another monumental victory, this time at The Oval in London to take a decisive 2-1 lead in the five-match Test series. They defeated England by 157 runs in the fourth Test and will now hope to clinch the series with a win or even a draw in Manchester.

Former Indian cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar thinks that England are paying the price for underestimating Team India. He thinks that the hosts have been more focused on the upcoming Ashes against Australia and as a result, find themselves behind in the series at home.

“Pressure will be on Root in the fifth Test at Manchester because India will be heading into that match with a 2-1 psychological advantage. Another big mistake of the England team and English media was that they were talking about the Ashes series and how they want to play in that series. They should have focused on the present challenge from India instead. England underestimated the Indian team, and it eventually cost them dearly in the series as they cannot win the series now,” Gavaskar said in a conversation with Aaj Tak.

England have lost two Tests already in the series despite having the upper hand in both the matches. At Lord’s they were trumped by a resolute show from the Indian tail-enders Bumrah and Shami and a fantastic bowling performance outclassed the side. At The Oval, Rohit Sharma chipped in with a crucial century while Shardul Thakur and Jasprit Bumrah wielded magic to secure yet another fantastic win.

In fact, the performances of the Indian tail-enders have been a particular highlight of this tour. Mohammad Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, and Shardul Thakur have all chipped in with the bat at crucial situations and have given Team India the upper hand several times.

“If India had made only 380 runs in their second innings, England would have had to chase a score of around 280. That would have meant less pressure on them as compared to chasing 368. So those useful contributions from the tail were very crucial. First, we saw in Lords and now in this Test match,” said Gavaskar.

“When bowlers score some runs in the lower order, then their confidence usually goes up even when they come back to bowl in the following innings. I am very delighted that India won a Test match at Oval after 50 years,” he added.