Former India cricketer Surinder Khanna shared his views on India’s disappointing 184 runs loss to Australia in the 4th test of the Border-Gavaskar series on Monday in Melbourne. While Khanna praised Yashasvi Jaiswal’s batting, he criticized his dismissal and the overall team effort, drawing comparisons to Sunil Gavaskar’s approach to controversial dismissals. “Only Jaiswal batted, the rest were just coming and going,” Khanna remarked, emphasizing Jaiswal’s standout performance amidst the team’s struggles.

Khanna delved into the controversial dismissal of Jaiswal, highlighting the use of technology and the role of player’s honesty in the game.

“Umpire first gave him not out. The fielding side took a referral. In the referral, there is a snickometer, and as per Sunil Gavaskar, there is no deflection in it but if you go by the naked eye, there is a difference of 15 to 17 degrees. After hitting the gloves, the ball became slow, and wicketkeeper Alex Carey had to dive forward to take the catch. The square leg umpire was doubting whether the catch was taken cleanly or not. Technically, in snickometer, there was no deflection, but if you go by me, since I was a keeper, I will say it hit his gloves,” he said.

Khanna compared this situation to the behaviour of former cricketers, stating, “Earlier, there were players like Gilchrist who used to walk away, but nowadays, youngsters like Jaiswal do not walk away. He is saying he did not edge it, but it was clear that he gloved it. Gavaskar is saying that snickometer is not showing any deflection, then it’s not out. He himself never walked away when he used to nick it. I asked him once that I have caught you 15 times behind the stumps, but you were only given out four times. What about the other 11 times? He used to laugh and say when I was not out, umpires did give me out a few times. So, that’s why I never walked away. Is this an answer? This is not the right thing.”

Khanna expressed concern over the impact of such decisions on the game, particularly for bowlers, “If we edged it, then we walked away because we feel sad when a bowler gets you out and the umpire doesn’t give it. He goes on to score a century, and the bowler gets kicked out of the team. When you get a batter of Gavaskar’s status, he will get 4-5 more wickets. Similarly, if you get Jaiswal out, the rest are already out of form. So, one decision can play a major role but again, if you go by technicality, then Sunny bhai is correct, but what about that huge deflection?”

He continued, “The next batter who came and got a bat pad, even he did not agree and was saying that the ball is going up. I can see it clearly because I have been a wicketkeeper. The boy knew that the glove hit the ball. He is dishonest.”

Khanna also praised the Australian team for their performance, while critiquing India’s fielding, “Australians played outstanding cricket. We had to bat out a day, about 77 overs or 80-odd overs, but we couldn’t. The openers and top orders set the tone. When I started watching, it was the 30th over, and by the 30th over, it was 29 runs.”

Reflecting on missed opportunities, he noted, “Australians were let off the hook when they were 60/6. They should have been dismissed for 80-85, but the catches that were dropped cost us. Three were dropped by Jaiswal alone. Straightforward chances. You cannot drop such catches, and we paid badly for it.”

Surinder Khanna’s insights underline the critical moments and decisions that influenced the outcome of the match, highlighting the fine margins that separate victory from defeat in Test cricket.

Former India wicketkeeper-batter Surinder Khanna lashed out at India’s approach in the fourth Test against Australia and called for ‘fair play’ from the visiting side following their 184-run defeat at Melbourne Cricket Ground on Monday. Chasing 340 on the final day of the match, Indian batters once again faltered against Australia’s bowling attack as the hosts took 2-1 lead in the five-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy series.

During India’s chase, India opener Yashasvi Jaiswal’s dismissal became the hot topic of debate after third umpire Sharfuddoula Saikat overturned on-field umpire Joel Wilson’s decision without any conclusive evidence. Despite no disturbance on the Snickometer when the ball hit Jaiswal’s gloves, the video evidence, however, showed some deflection based on which third umpire made his decision.

The decision was not taken well by the Indian camp and also by former players as they criticised the technology for not fulfilling the purpose completely.

Meanwhile, Khanna had a different take on that and suggested ‘there’s no point in making controversy’. He advised Rohit Sharma-led team to play fair cricket first to change the result of the match.

“There is no point in making controversy, they’ve shown it from four angles that the ball hit the gloves and its pace also decreased before Alex Carey caught it behind the stumps. Akash Deep also complained of a similar thing when he was caught out. ‘Juthe log hai yeh (they are all liars)’, you have to play fair wicket first then only you’ll start winning. When the bat is in your hand, how can you not know about edging the ball? We have played bad and we have lost. What kind of batting they’re doing? Come the IPL, these players will hit runs. Don’t play over-aggressive T20 cricket and play positively. Let’s hope that the luck changes in the New Year (for the Indian team),” Khanna told IANS.

Following the defeat in Melbourne, India’s point percentage (PCT), however, has dipped from 55.88 to 52.78 while Australia’s PCT saw a jump from 58.89 to 61.46 as they close in on a second consecutive appearance in the WTC final.

Earlier on Sunday, South Africa became the first team to qualify for next year’s WTC final at Lord’s. Defending champions Australia need just one win in their remaining three Tests (one against India and two against Sri Lanka) to secure their second consecutive final appearance.

India, however, can still qualify for the WTC final but they must win the final Test of the series against Australia in Sydney to tie the Border-Gavaskar series and then rely on the Aussies not winning a Test during their series in Sri Lanka that commences next month.

India vs Australia: File photo of Rohit Sharma© AFP