INDORE: Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar on Friday lashed out at Indian batters for their poor show in the third Test against Australia. Gavaskar said the "pitch played on their minds".
India were dismissed for 109 in their first innings and then 163 in the second innings as Australia qualified for the World Test Championship final with a thumping nine-wicket win on the third morning.
Despite the loss, India still lead the four-match Test series 2-1 and have already retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
"Batters actually didn't do justice to their talent. If you look at the Indian wickets, you will find it is the Indian batters who got themselves out, playing some shots anticipating that this is what the pitch is going to do," Gavaskar said.
"If you look there is lack of confidence because in the first two matches, they did not get runs, apart from Rohit Sharma, who got a lovely hundred in Nagpur. When you are short of runs, there is just that little tentativeness in their batting. And you can sense that they were feeling for the deliveries.
"They were not able to go down the pitch as much as they should have. They let the pitch overtake them. It was the pitch that actually started to play on their minds, even in the first innings but more so in the second innings," he added.
Gavaskar said India were 60-70 runs short in the first innings, after opting to bat first.
"The pitch started to talk in the first hour itself, so it wasn't going to be easy but still if we had made 160-170 in the first innings that could have made the difference," the batting great said.
1/10:Australia crush India in 3rd Test, qualify for WTC final
<p>Read more on TOI Sports</p>Getty Images
2/10:BIG WIN
<p>Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne held their nerve on a viciously turning Indore pitch to guide Australia to a nine-wicket victory. <br /></p>PTI
3/10:LONG WAIT
<p>Indore Test win is only Australia's second Test victory in India since 2004.<br /></p>AP
4/10:IT'S 2-1 NOW
<p>After Australia were thrashed in the first two Tests inside three days, the series now stands at 2-1 to the hosts with one match remaining.<br /></p>AP
5/10:LABUSCHAGNE-HEAD SHOW
<p>Labuschagne finished on 28 not out and Head on 49, having lost opener Usman Khawaja to only the second ball of the day.<br /></p>Getty Images
6/10:MISSION ACCOMPLISHED
<p>The dogged victory secured Australia a berth in the ICC World Test Championship final in June at The Oval. <br /></p>Getty Images
7/10:BIG TASK AHEAD
<p>India will be sure of their place in the final if they win the fourth Test in Ahmedabad.<br /></p>PTI
8/10:HIGH FIVES FOR KUHNEMANN
<p>In a low-scoring and frenetic encounter, Australia skittled India for 109 on day one with spinner Matthew Kuhnemann claiming five wickets.<br /></p>Getty Images
9/10:WHAT A COMEBACK
<p>In reply Australia made a solid start before collapsing to 197 all out before lunch on day two, their last six wickets tumbling for just 11 runs.<br /></p>Getty Images
10/10:LYON-KING
<p>Eight wickets for spinner Nathan Lyon saw India bundled out for 163 in their second innings, setting up a victory target of 76.<br /></p>Getty ImagesMarnus Labuschagne was handed two lives -- on 0 and 8 -- in Australia's first innings of the Indore Test. The batter played on to a Ravindra Jadeja 'no ball', before India erred by not opting for a DRS.
Asked about the no ball, Gavaskar said: "If you look back, you will say that is probably what cost India the match because after that they (Labuschagne and Usman Khawaja) stitched a partnership of 96 when India were dismissed for 109.
"So I think that was probably the turning point. That no ball cost India the match."
The fourth and final Test of the series will be played in Ahmedabad from March 9.
(With inputs from PTI)
