<p> The Indian cricket team’s run of poor form has prompted former captain Sunil Gavaskar to come down heavily on the beleaguered players, questioning their “abysmal work ethic” following the side’s defeat to arch-rivals Pakistan in the ongoing Asia Cup here.<br /><br /></p>.<p>India suffered a narrow one-wicket defeat at the hands of Pakistan in Mirpur last night, which virtually put them out of contention from reaching the final of the five-nation tournament. India have lost two matches so far while winning just one against Bangladesh.<br /><br />“India’s work ethic has been pretty abysmal. It has let the team down. They have not practised well and there can never be something like optional practice. There was no excuse for anyone apart from Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli to miss practice,” Gavaskar told a television channel.<br /><br />“This business of optional practice has to be thrown out of the window. This is not the case only in this tournament, but throughout.<br /><br />“You are not here to be in your hotel rooms or to be out in the shops. You are here to represent India, something which the team management has not been saying for the past two-three years. That’s been the disappointing aspect. This also explains why Indian team hasn’t won anything of note apart from the Champions Trophy,” blasted Gavaskar.<br /><br />Gavaskar also lashed out at the top order, saying that the batsmen were over-confident and failed in shot-selection. “India threw away a couple of wickets unnecessarily and every time Pakistan have been asked to chase 250 recently, they have failed. So, we were a few runs short,” said the former skipper.<br />He also said that it was very easy for the batsmen to hit sixes at the Sher-e-Bangla cricket stadium, as the boundaries were shorter.<br /><br />“The boundaries should be a bit longer. Sixes were hit easily on this stadium.”<br />Gavaskar, however, defended stand-in-skipper Kohli and said that he has shown promise. “For somebody who is captaining for the first time in a major tournament, Kohli has done well and shown promise. Losses to both Sri Lanka and Pakistan were suffered in the last over,” he pointed out.<br /></p>
<p> The Indian cricket team’s run of poor form has prompted former captain Sunil Gavaskar to come down heavily on the beleaguered players, questioning their “abysmal work ethic” following the side’s defeat to arch-rivals Pakistan in the ongoing Asia Cup here.<br /><br /></p>.<p>India suffered a narrow one-wicket defeat at the hands of Pakistan in Mirpur last night, which virtually put them out of contention from reaching the final of the five-nation tournament. India have lost two matches so far while winning just one against Bangladesh.<br /><br />“India’s work ethic has been pretty abysmal. It has let the team down. They have not practised well and there can never be something like optional practice. There was no excuse for anyone apart from Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli to miss practice,” Gavaskar told a television channel.<br /><br />“This business of optional practice has to be thrown out of the window. This is not the case only in this tournament, but throughout.<br /><br />“You are not here to be in your hotel rooms or to be out in the shops. You are here to represent India, something which the team management has not been saying for the past two-three years. That’s been the disappointing aspect. This also explains why Indian team hasn’t won anything of note apart from the Champions Trophy,” blasted Gavaskar.<br /><br />Gavaskar also lashed out at the top order, saying that the batsmen were over-confident and failed in shot-selection. “India threw away a couple of wickets unnecessarily and every time Pakistan have been asked to chase 250 recently, they have failed. So, we were a few runs short,” said the former skipper.<br />He also said that it was very easy for the batsmen to hit sixes at the Sher-e-Bangla cricket stadium, as the boundaries were shorter.<br /><br />“The boundaries should be a bit longer. Sixes were hit easily on this stadium.”<br />Gavaskar, however, defended stand-in-skipper Kohli and said that he has shown promise. “For somebody who is captaining for the first time in a major tournament, Kohli has done well and shown promise. Losses to both Sri Lanka and Pakistan were suffered in the last over,” he pointed out.<br /></p>