Former India player Sunil Gavaskar has urged the national selectors to drop players who have become liabilities on the field after the three-match T20I series against Zimbabwe. Despite securing a 3-0 win over the host nation, the Men in Blue were ordinary in the fielding department and dropped five catches in the third and final T20I of the series at the Harare Sports Club.

The fielding lapses were behind India’s recent defeats in Ireland and England. The T20 World Champions lost 0-2 to the Irish side before suffering a 0-4 defeat against England.

Talking about the poor fielding standards of the Indian National Cricket Team, Gavaskar requested the decision-makers to take action.

“It’s mandatory that if a player is an average fielder, he has to be shown the door. There is simply no way a captain has to hide three or four players, hoping the ball won’t go anywhere near them.”

Sunil Gavaskar question Indian batters’ performance against England

Sunil Gavaskar slammed the Indian batters for their display in the T20I and ODI series defeats to England.

The hosts’ players were brilliant in comparison to Indian willow holders to win six out of the seven completed contests.

The Men in Blue also failed in both their games against Ireland.

“Shot selection is very important, and here the batter has to rein in his ego and not try to live up to an image, but play the ball on its merits. Yes, in the ultra-short format, the T20, it is not easy to do so as big shots are needed virtually every other delivery.

But it is different in the ODI format, where there is time for a short period of settling down before the power shots are unfurled,” he said.

“It’s necessary to play smart cricket. So, figure out the bowler who doesn’t need to be counter-attacked. Then target the bowlers against whom you can make up for the quiet over from the better bowler. No team in the world has five top bowlers, and there will always be eight to 12 overs in a T20 game where the runs can be looted. Similarly, in the 50-over format, a little patience won’t hurt even if the team is chasing a big score like 380-plus,’ he added.

After taking a 1-0 lead in the England ODI series, the visitors lost the next two games, with the batters finding it hard to score runs under pressure.