The fourth Test between IND vs AUS was played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Thursday. Travis Head and Usman Khawaja set the proceedings as Australia hammered an undisciplined Indian bowling line-up, scoring at a healthy run-rate. They were well short of the target, and India was further hurt when KS Bharat dropped a straightforward catch of the head when he was just on 7.
See how Gavaskar, Hayden and Shastri reacted on Bharat –
On the fifth ball of the sixth over, Umesh Yadav hit a four on the line of the fifth stump. The head pounced on it and scratched it; The ball went straight to Bharat, who completely messed it up. An opportunity that should have been taken 101 times out of 100, Bharat completely misjudged it and and couldn’t lap it up.
The gloves were nowhere near the ball and the ball went out. Skipper Rohit Sharma was clearly not amused and neither were Bharat’s teammates. The missed opportunity took the commentators by surprise, as each of them expressed their shock at the drop catch in the air.
Here is how Ravi Shastri, Sunil Gavaskar, Dinesh Karthik and Matthew Hayden reacted.
Gavaskar:- “It’s as easy as they come. Of course in Test cricket no catch is easy. But have a look at this. Just fishing for the ball outside off stump. IN and it goes down.”
Hayden: – “He just got his hands in the wrong position. He [Bharat] got done and then he didn’t make the adjustment. It’s almost like a stubbornness in his thinking knowing that the ball should always be here. But it wasn’t.
Shastri: – “That drop catch. A real sitter put down. A straightforward chance.”
See what was Karthik’s reaction on Bharat –
“You get the feeling that he [Bharat] is slightly nervous. Hands were lower than where the ball was. The one thing that you have to say is that the ball is wobbling. Doing more than what he thinks. The hands were slightly lower than where they should have been. Harder as well; tells me he is nervous at this point of time.”