Australia selectors should be sacked even if they level series: Sunil Gavaskar

Former India batter Sunil Gavaskar has lashed out at the Australian selectors, saying they should resign even if the visitors were to win the final Test in Ahmedabad and level the series. Gavaskar was critical of the way Australia went in with injured players like Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, and Cameron Green, effectively reducing their options. Starc and Green played the third Test in Indore, but Hazlewood has been ruled out of the series. 

Also, the former India captain was not pleased with the handling of Ashton Agar, who was deemed not good enough despite making the squad. Australia flew in Matthew Kuhnemann and played the left-arm spinner and not Agar.

"While the ex-Australian players on the various media platforms are having a real go at their players, the ones who should be the real targets are the Australian selectors. How can they pick three players [Hazlewood, Starc, and Green] who they knew would not be available for selection for the first two Test matches? That is, for half the series, the team management had only 13 players to pick from," Gavaskar wrote in his column for Sportstar.

“Then they fly in a newcomer [Kuhnemann] when they had a similar player already in the team. If they didn’t think the player in the team was good enough, why did they pick him in the first place? That meant the team management was picking their 11 from 12 players." 

"Ridiculous. If they have any sense of responsibility the selectors should resign even if Australia make a stunning comeback and win the next two Tests and level the series," he added.

After going 2-0 down following losses in Nagpur and Delhi, Australia pulled one back when they beat India by nine wickets in the third Test in Indore. As a result, they have booked their place in the World Test Championship (WTC) final, which will be played at The Oval in June. India too can qualify for the summit clash with a win in Ahmedabad.