‘Can’t take West Indies lightly’:Sunil Gavaskar’s advice for India ahead of do-or-die clash against Windies on Sunday

Ahead of the do-or-die battle against the West Indies on March 1 to seal the semifinal berth, former India captain Sunil Gavaskar expressed his concerns after the defeat to South Africa and advised Team India to play smart. He said, ‘Can’t take the West Indies lightly.’ He also applauded the Men in Blue for the 72-run victory against Zimbabwe. He further backs Sanju Samson’s cameo and shares his insights on Abhishek Sharma’s comeback. Team India, ahead of the encounter against the West Indies on March 1 at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata, has defeated Zimbabwe by 72 runs in Chennai. India record their highest team total in the history of the T20 World Cup. The result of the battle will decide the second semifinalist for the tournament as South Africa already sealed the berth in the semis. ‘Can’t take the West Indies lightly’ – Sunil Gavaskar After India’s dominant victory over Zimbabwe in the hoe soil after 24 years, former India legend Sunil Gavaskar shares his concerns ahead of the clash against West Indies on Sunday. He said, “As they say, why fix things if it ain’t broke? But India were broken against South Africa. They realised they needed a right-left combination at the top. Learning from the previous game was very important. Now West Indies is a completely different challenge. They cannot be taken for granted. Their batters are in top form. Their bowlers are doing well. They punish opposition mistakes and strike at the right time. India will need a good plan to handle the West Indies batting threat.” “Their batters start playing shots from ball one. They do not wait to see if the delivery needs respect. Their way of respecting the ball is by hitting it over the ropes. So India will have to play smart, come up with plans, and outfox West Indies in a way they do not expect. Sunday’s match is surely going to be a cracking one,” he added further. Gavaskar backs Sanju Samson for his short cameo Witnessing the start from India opener Sanju Samson, he said, “That six which Sanju Samson hit off the back foot straight over long off was amazing. It is not an easy shot to play off the back foot. You usually play towards mid-wicket or thereabouts. Then he hit another six over long on.” “Wonderful shots. It tells you the class of the man. In the interest of the team, he went for a big hit and got out. That is fine because he got India off to a flying start. In a tournament like the T20 World Cup, that is important. A flying start gives a nice platform for the other batters to come in and smash the ball around,” continues further. Gavaskar shares his insights on Abhishek Sharma’s comeback Abhishek Sharma’s mature innings with a brilliant half-century against Zimbabwe last night kept Sunil Gavaskar in awe. He has shared his insights regarding the amazing comeback by Abhishek Sharma. He said, “”We know how good Abhishek Sharma is as a batter. He silenced his doubters with this knock of 55 runs against Zimbabwe. He took that extra time to start his innings. There was a method to his batting. He respected the off spinner, didn’t take any kind of risks and played in a calm composed manner. In this game, he actually played a defensive shot. He defended the ball. I was surprised to see that because we don’t usually see Abhishek do that.” “I really think this is a learning curve for him. Every cricketer goes through a rough patch of not scoring runs in back-to-back games. It is about how much you learn from it. I feel Abhishek has learned a lot and this will augur well for him going forward, in the next couple of games and the all-important clash against West Indies in Kolkata,” Gavaskar concluded.