Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar was not happy with Kl satisfied‘s short innings, which he believed was designed to help his partner Shubman Gill reach a century in the first ODI against England in Nagpur. Unfortunately for Rahul and India, he got out, and Gill, too, could not reach his century as he fell soon after.
When Axar Patel was clean-bowled by a vicious turner from Adil Rashid in the 34th over, India were 221/4, needing 27 runs to win. The overs remaining (14.2 overs) were not a concern. The only matter was whether Gill (81 at that time) was going to get his century. Coming in to bat at No.6, Rahul appeared aware of the situation, and he decided to help his partner as much as possible.
After getting two singles off his first four balls, Rahul played out the final two balls of the 35th over. When he again got the strike back in the second ball of the next over, bowled by Adil Rashid, Rahul decided to shut shop completely. He made little attempt to get the scoreboard moving, and Gavaskar felt he was not playing his natural game just to make sure Gill got to his century.
“He should play his natural game. He is prodding to make sure his partner has a chance of getting a hundred,” Gavaskar said after the third ball of the 36th over.
In the next ball, Rahul ended up chipping it straight back to Rashid, who took a simple return catch. As Rahul was walking back, Gavaskar made no attempts to hide his displeasure.
“Look what happened. This is exactly what I was talking about. This is a team game, you don’t have to do that. He was looking to tap the ball to help his partner get to a century. It was a half-hearted shot,” Gavaskar said on commentary.
Hardik Pandya came out to bat and hit a six off his second ball to get off the mark. In the first ball of the next over, Gill charged down the track to hit Saqib Mahmood for a boundary. With 14 to win and 13 to his century, Gill was clearly going for it. Unfortunately, he hit the next ball twice to get caught mid-on for 87.
India win by 4 wickets to take 1-0 lead
Gill anchored India’s chase after Shreyas Iyer’s 31-ball half-century. Iyer’s 59 runs and his 94-run partnership off 64 balls with Gill under-pinned India’s score. Gill added 108 runs off 107 balls with Axar Patel, whose 52 was his maiden ODI half-century.
India leads the three-match series 1-0. Cuttack hosts the second ODI on Sunday.
Earlier, England made a hectic start as openers Phil Salt and Ben Duckett (32) put on 73 off 53 balls.
Salt smacked three sixes and five boundaries in 43 off 26 balls before he was caught in a mix-up and was run out against the run of play.
England then lost two wickets in seven deliveries: Rana dismissed Duckett thanks to a diving catch by fellow debutant Yashasvi Jaiswal, then Harry Brook was caught behind for a three-ball duck. The visitors were down to 77-3.
Joe Root (19) and Buttler pushed the score past 100 until Jadeja trapped Root.
Buttler scored his first half-century on Indian soil — 52 off 67, including four fours — in a half-century stand with Jacob Bethell.
Bethell pitched in with 51 off 64 balls, including three fours and a six.
But after Buttler was dismissed by Axar Patel in the 33rd over, English went from 170-4 to 206-7. Rana sent back Liam Livingstone for 5 and Shami bowled Brydon Carse for 10.
Jadeja trapped Bethell lbw, too, and England finished with an under-par score.
