Legendary Indian batsman Sunil Gavaskar backed the Indian selectors for not making changes to the Test squad for the Kolkata Test saying it was not required at this stage, says a report in The Indian Express.
"There are quite a few youngsters who are knocking the doors. India could have tried a few youngsters if they were 2-0 up in the series. We can't make wholesale changes, it creates uncertainty..." Gavaskar said.
Only one change was made as pacer Ashok Dinda was brought in for injured Umesh Yadav.
"We have to look at the situations also. The selection committees are not keen to experiment or inject young blood. That has been the trend in the last couple of years and it has not changed."
"Complacency has been the bane of Indian cricket. For decades it has been there, even when I used to play. It has always let us down. When the opposition is 160 for 5 or six, we tend to relax and then the wicket-keeper with tail-enders have added 200 runs. This is what hapened in the first Test and here (Mumbai) as well," he added.
On the pressure growing on Sachin Tendulkar, he said, “Why are we in such a rush for someone who has been heartthrob of India for so long. We react in extreme. When we love and the other way. Australia have always been talked as ruthless but have they dropped Ricky Ponting for the third Test.”
Meanwhile, The Financial Express reports Gavaskar criticizing the performance of Indian spinners for allowing the visitors to score over 400 runs.
"The England spin duo did a very good job but what were Indian spinners doing. They allowed England to score 50-odd runs more in their first innings and that too at run-a-ball. How did they allow England to cross 400?" Gavaskar asked.
"The Indian batsmen also did not do well in the Test and they should have been a little better in their application. But more than the batsmen, the spinners had failed to do their job," he added.