What Was The Need If You Don't Trust Them: Ravi Shastri Rips Apart Rohit-Gambhir As India's Falter At MCG

Ravi Shastri did not mince his words while questioning head coach Gambhir and Rohit Sharma after India's lacklustre display in the fourth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), with the visitors' team selection and tactics coming under the scanner.

Shastri questioned India's decision to play two spinners and pointed out how Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar were underbowled. Shastri was critical of India's bowling performance and suggested that the team ran out of ideas.

“I thought the bowling was pretty ordinary. They ran out of ideas, India. Spin wasn’t used as much as it should have. It took a gap of 40 overs before Jadeja was introduced into the attack. It took a long time for Washington Sundar to bowl his first over. So when you’re playing two spinners, you have to ask the question, why did you play two spinners? What was the need if you don’t trust them?

"India ran out of ideas. Bowling was pretty ordinary. Spin wasn't used as much as it should have. It took 40 overs for Sundar to bowl. Why did you play two spinners? What was the need if you don't trust them?," Shastri said on Star Sports during the lunch break.

India made a bold change in the playing XI ahead of the MCG Test as Washington Sundar replaced Shubman Gill as the team dropped a specialist batter to accommodate a second spinner. While India is playing with six bowling options, the workload on the three pacers has seen no reduction.

With Gill not in the team, the team will see a change in the batting order. Abhishek Nayyar confirmed that Rohit will return to open the batting, which will mean that KL Rahul is demoted to the number three spot despite his brilliant display so far in the series.

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