Brickbats for msd

New Delhi: Severely critical of the Indian cricket team's poor show against England in the third Test, former captain Sunil Gavaskar said the old habit of getting complacent after a big win seems to have affected the side during the lost match.

India went down by 266 runs in the Southampton Test on Thursday after the morale-lifting triumph in the second Test at Lord's.

"We might have helped England get back the momentum. Having beaten them at their headquarter in Lord's, we had them absolutely demoralised. But I don't know what we did in the five intervening days after that. We were sloppy on the first morning. We dropped Cook and let him get away. We need to look at our slip fielding and so many other things. There were so many misfields," the legendary opener told 'NDTV' from Southampton.

"It used to happen to Indian teams since 1930's but this Indian team is more professional. They should not be affected by complacency and should address the issues quickly."

On what made Rahane look a better batsmen than his colleagues, Gavaskar said, "It's the way he was playing. He was not trying to reach for the ball. He waited for the ball to come onto the bat and played with a straight bat. At the same time he was quick to seize on to any scoring opportunity."

EAS flays Jadeja choice
Meanwhile, Erapalli Prasanna questioned India's logic behind ignoring Ravichandran Ashwin and termed team management's move to play Ravindra Jadeja as a strike bowler a "disastrous" one.

"Ravindra Jadeja should play in all Tests but only as a stock bowler. He is not a wicket-taker. Jadeja's capability as a spinner doesn't make him a strike bowler. Now if the team management forces a stock bowler to become a strike bowler, then disaster is waiting to happen," Prasanna told PTI during an interview on Friday.

Gavaskar was absolutely livid with the manner in which Vijay got run out in the second innings.