Legendary Indian batsman Sunil Gavaskar feels opener Virender Sehwag's decision to make a departure from his 'see the ball, hit the ball' helped him a lot to score his first ton in two years, says a report in The Times of India.
“See the ball, hit the ball' - that is not quite the attitude of Test cricket. It is a wrong thing he was looking to do. Now, he played himself in, you have got to spend time in the middle," Gavaskar said.
Gavaskar expressed his disappointment over the fact that Sehwag couldn’t score a double-hundred.
"He was pretty determined, putting his head down. It's a pity that he was not able to make a double century. That would have taken a way the game from England. I am disappointed, even he will be disappointed. When one gets to a century after a long time, one always likes to go on. But he has done his job. It is just a personal disappointment. That he has scored a century after so long means we can expect him to make a few more in not just this series but also in the season ahead,” he added.
Gavaskar also advised the Indian bowlers to hit the right length and not be afraid of giving the ball air.
"It's going to slow down. With the second new ball, we saw that the ball was rarely going beyond the knee. If they hit the right length India might win the match in four days. They should not be afraid of tossing the ball around, that's when you can get the batsman to commit on the front foot,” he said.
Meanwhile, The Hindustan Times reports Gavaskar saying that Graeme Swann’s success would encourage India’s spinners but expected the Motera pitch to slow down and force the bowlers to toil.
