Sunil Gavaskar reflects on Virat Kohli reaction to 'best Indian team' question | Screen Grab/PTI The series-concluding press conference at the Oval wasn't all smooth for the Indian skipper Virat Kohli as he faced the bumpy question of his team being the best India side in the past 10-15 years. Although head coach Ravi Shastri was clear in his interpretation of the team, Kohli wasn't in the mood to answer the reporter on the subject. Legendary Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar, reacting to the incident, said that it probably wasn't the right time to ask this question to Kohli as he would've been hurt from the 4-1 series defeat. Speaking to India Today, Gavaskar asserted that although the reporter was right to put across the question in front of the Indian skipper, it's the timing that saw the whole event turn a bit bitter. Even about Shastri, Gavaskar believes that the coach's intentions behind the statement was only to lift the team's morale and not really to ridicule the previous sides. "That is probably the wrong time to ask him that question. He (Virat) must have been hurting from the defeat. Maybe the reporter was perfectly justified in asking that but I don't think any skipper would have responded with a 'you are right but we are wrong' statement. To be honest, Ravi (Shastri) would have said that (best touring team in last 15 years) to lift the morale of the team. I don't think so that he was trying to rubbish the earlier teams. That wasn't the coach's intention I believe,” said the original Little Master. Further giving Kohli the benefit of doubt, Gavaskar cited the failure to finish the series on a high as the possible reason behind such reaction from the skipper. Is this the best Indian Test side of the last 15 years? #ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/24UVSEbCt6 — ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) September 12, 2018 "His team was 1-3 down and maybe he just wanted to end on a high. I don't think that we should read too much into Virat's reaction either. It was clear that the skipper was disappointed with what had happened and maybe he responded that way," the 69-year-old said. Gavaskar also had some points to put forward in terms of Kohli's captaincy. With two back-to-back overseas series defeats, the former Indian cricketer believes that the 29-year-old lacks experience and still has a lot to learn in terms of field placements and bowling changes. "He (Virat) still has a lot to learn. Like we saw in South Africa earlier and now in England too, there were instances when right field placements or timely bowling changes made by him could have made a big difference. That was missing again. It has just been two years since he took over as a captain so at times the lack of experience shows.<doc-sep>Virat Kohli led Indian cricket team suffered a 60-run loss to England in the fourth Test at Southampton and thus registered the five-Test match series. Former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar slammed the Indian team for its over-dependency on Indian skipper Virat Kohli. On the other hand Gavaskar has not been impressed with India's defeat at Southampton. Sunil Gavaskar cited to Sports Tak that "Everybody would be disappointed looking at the result because when Virat Kohli took over as captain, it seemed like the team would head into a new direction under him. The team looked hungry to win and seemed more hopeful of doing well under Kohli. Everyone thought that he will bring in a lot more josh, a lot more energy into the team. So quite naturally, there will be questions asked about his captaincy", as per reported in Deccan Chronicle. "Everybody knew that the three toughest series for India was going to be in South Africa, England and the forthcoming Australia tour. Before this all that India played were more like practice tours in Sri Lanka and West Indies,” added Gavaskar. "If only the other batsmen could have played like him. If any other batsman could have scored over 400-500 runs then India wouldn't have lost Test series in South Africa and in England. This is like a learning curve for Kohli at the moment. Fans are bound to be disappointed as the expectations were quite high with this team. Looking at how they performed before this at home, in West Indies and in Sri Lanka, everybody were hoping to see history being made on foreign soil," continued Gavaskar. "Just like the captain, a coach is only as good as his team. If the team is not able to raise its level on the field, whatever you might tell them in the changing room or off the field in terms of motivation, won't help. You can't blame one person for it. Questions need to be asked of those persons, those individuals who are not able to raise the level of their game rather than a coach," said Gavaskar. Also Read: Sunil Gavaskar slams Hardik Pandya and Ravichandran Ashwin as Virat Kohli's men lose the series<doc-sep>Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has said that is only to be expected that “questions will be asked” about Virat Kohli’s captaincy after India’s series loss in England. While Kohli has laid to rest his demons from India's previous Test series in England by amassing over 500 runs, his decision making as captain hasn’t met with the approval of several former players, and Gavaskar has become only the latest to join the chorus. While lauding his efforts with the bat, Gavaskar pointed that with the series loss in South Africa earlier in the year, India’s record outside the sub-continent continues to be mediocre. "When Virat took over captaincy, everybody thought that it will be a completely different way because you had MSD (Mahendra Singh Dhoni) who was cool, calm and collected and here was somebody who was very passionate,” he told India Today. “Not that being calm, cool and collected means that you are not passionate about winning but here was a person who had a completely different approach and outlook to the game. "Everyone thought that he will bring in a lot more energy into the team. The earlier results were certainly encouraging. But then we all knew that the real test is going to be South Africa in South Africa, England in England and in Australia later this year. Yes, I think that the result overseas and outside the sub-continent - if you leave the West Indies and Zimbabwe aside - certainly not have been as per expectations. So quite expectedly there will be questions asked about his captaincy. "As far as his batting is concerned, he has been absolutely terrific. Not many captains have scored over 500 runs in a series and still ended up on the losing side. Individually he has done absolutely superbly. Unfortunately, he hasn't had the kind of back-up that would've enabled him to win this Test series." Another player facing the brunt of severe criticism in the wake of India’s loss is spinner R Ashwin. While his counterpart Moeen Ali picked up a match haul of nine wickets at Southampton, Ashwin failed to get the same amount of purchase from the surface and managed just three wickets in the Test. Harbhajan Singh, who is in England doing commentary duties for the ongoing Test series, was critical of his fellow off-spinner’s performances, saying he failed to pick wickets when it "mattered the most". "There was so much help available on this wicket for the off-spinners. Just landing the ball at that particular rough patch would have fetched a lot of wickets,” said Harbhajan. “That is exactly what Moeen Ali did and got so many wickets. "India lost the match where Moeen Ali bowled better than R Ashwin. For the first time, I saw England spinners bowling better than our spinners. Him (Ashwin) not being able to take wickets is the reason why we are 1-3 behind in the series. "Ashwin is a great bowler and has achieved so much for India. But he failed to take wickets when it mattered the most, that is on Day 3. Had he taken just two or three wickets, not even a five-wicket haul, then India would have been chasing a target of 160-170 runs for victory which was very much achievable." Former Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin pointed to the deficiencies in the techniques of the Indian batsmen and questioned the role of the support staff in preparing the team for the challenge of English conditions. "Technically, our batsmen were found wanting,” Azharuddin said in an interview with the Times of India. "We didn’t play the moving ball well. We can’t depend only on Virat Kohli. Openers like Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul too didn’t get runs. The middle-order was left with too much to do. We should have taken at least a 100-run lead after Cheteshwar Pujara’s hundred (in the first innings of the fourth Test). “We could have done better. This was our best chance to win the series because we had the best bowling attack and in every game, they got those 20 wickets and gave our team a chance to throttle the opposition.”<doc-sep>It’s been a story of missed opportunities here in England too as India lost a chance of creating history by coming back from a 1-2 deficit and win the series. Like in South Africa, India’s bowlers put the opposition down only for the batsmen to mess it up.The shining exception on both tours has been the skipper Virat Kohli who has looked from a different planet altogether as he has made batting look like a walk in the park. Yes, even in a park, one comes across the odd rough patch and obstacle, but he has skirted round that with ease and with over 500 runs, has shown the doubters that he is by far the best in the world.Unfortunately, he has had little support from the others and so, like in South Africa, the moment he is out, the rest of the batting collapses like the proverbial deck of cards. Sure, the ball has moved much more, but by stubbornly not playing practice games, the team has denied itself the chance of getting good match practice against the moving ball.Then, there was the ineptness against Moeen Ali which was harder to stomach especially as Indians are supposed to be good players of spin bowling. Where was the use of the feet to get to the pitch of the ball? Too much white ball cricket with its stand and hit method is ruining batting techniques.No praise can be too high of our seamers who have bowled their hearts out. Oval provides a good pitch for the batsmen to salvage some pride, but it won’t be easy if the conditions remain overcast and as long as the bat speed is not curtailed, the struggles will continue. The Oval Test will be the last Test for Alastair Cook who has had a tremendous career for England and it could also be the start of a Test career for young Prithvi Shaw and that’s another compelling reason to look forward to the game.<doc-sep>
VIRAT Kohli boasts the best win-percentage of anyone who has captained India in at least ten Tests and his side sits comfortably atop the ICC’s rankings, but Sunil Gavaskar says questions will be asked of his leadership after two consecutive series defeats away from home. Heading into 2018 Kohli had not tasted a series-defeat as Test captain but he was fully aware the team’s greatest challenges lay ahead of it, with tours of South Africa, England and Australia locked in for the year. His Indian team has already lost two of them, going down 2-1 to South Africa and trailing England 3-1 with a Test to go despite the man himself sitting comfortably atop the run-scoring charts (544 at 68.00). Get ready for cricket like never before. FREE Sport HD + Entertainment until the first 4K cricket ball as part of 3 months free on a 12 month plan. SIGN UP TODAY. T & Cs apply. India has lost its past two Test series under Virat Kohli. Source: AFP While praising the 29-year-old’s own efforts with the bat, Gavaskar said the side has failed to deliver the results expected of it. “Everybody would be disappointed looking at the result because when Virat took over as captain, it seemed like the team would head into a new direction under him,” he told India Today.“The team looked hungry to win and seemed more hopeful of doing well under Kohli. “Everyone thought that he will bring in a lot more energy into the team. So quite naturally, there will be questions asked about his captaincy.” READ MORE WATSON HAILS FOURTH FORMAT TO ‘MODERNISE THE SPORT’ AUSTRALIA A DUO SHINE WITH THE BALL TO BOLSTER TEST HOPES ‘YOU CALLED ME A ****’: WHEN COOK MET JIMMY Virat Kohli has topped the run-scoring in each of his past two Test series. Source: AFP The former opener suggested the skipper had been let down by his senior teammates in the batting order. “As a batsman Kohli has lived up to the expectations and even more. He has done everything possible as a batsman. “If only the other batsmen could have played like him. If any other batsman could have scored over 400-500 runs then India wouldn’t have lost Test series in South Africa and in England.” Meanwhile, Sourav Ganguly has put the blowtorch on coach Ravi Shastri and batting coach Sanjay Bangar. Ganguly was a part of the panel that appointed Shastri as India coach in 2017 after the resignation of Anil Kumble, who had been given the job by the same panel a year earlier. He believes India’s batsmen have regressed under Shastri’s watch. “Regarding Ravi Shastri, he has to be held accountable for the results along with Sanjay Bangar regarding why only one batsman is performing whereas others seem to have taken backward steps,” Ganguly told IndiaTV. “Unless these questions are answered an overseas series win in the three countries (South Africa, England and Australia) looks impossible for India. Sourav Ganguly believes India’s batsmen have regressed under Ravi Shastri’s watch. Source: AFP “This batting line-up hasn’t been making runs for a long time now. If you look at India’s overseas performances from 2011 until now, they have lost every big series. When Virat Kohli is at the crease it seems that he is playing against totally different bowlers as compared to when the other batsmen are batting. I believe that the batting ability of the current players has gone down.” However, Shane Watson does not expect India’s batsmen to have nearly as much trouble on Australian shores this summer. “Trust me when Australia travel to England for the Ashes next year, it won’t be easy for them also,” the former all-rounder told the Press Trust of India. “England is the only place where the ball swings that much primarily due to conditions. You can’t just land in England once every three years and be successful.” Shane Watson pointed to the success of India’s batsmen in Australia last time around as reason to be confident they could handle conditions down under. Source: News Corp Australia Watson pointed to the success India’s batsmen enjoyed in Australia in the 2014-15 Border-Gavaskar series as proof they had it in them to prosper this summer. That campaign saw Kohli score four centuries in four matches (692 runs at 86.50), while Murali Vijay (482 at 60.25) and Ajinkya Rahane (399 at 57.00) both scored centuries and averaged well above 50.