Sunil Gavaskar questions MS Dhoni's slip-strategy

Ravindra Jadeja drops Alastair Cook on the first day of the 3rd Test against England at Rose Bowl

Former Indian opener and renowned commentator Sunil Gavaskar has questioned the liability of the Indian slip cordon after the first day’s play at Rose Bowl in the crucial third Test of the 5-match series. Struggling England captain and opener Alastair Cook presented a regulation catch off the impressive debutant Pankaj Singh to third slip Ravindra Jadeja, which the all-rounder spilled.

The batsman with more than 10,000 Test runs questioned why India’s best slip fielders are not preferred by captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni with the responsibility.

"Unless we know why Murali Vijay and Virat Kohli are not standing in the slips, we will keep making these mistakes. They are our best catchers and they are not in the slip cordon. I don't know the reasons they were not there, but it is not helping the team," he told NDTV after the day's play.

The 61-year-old made this claim after Cook went on to score 80 more runs before he was eventually dismissed for 95. England built a strong base around the left-hander’s innings and reached a comfortable 247/2 by stumps.

Wrong Positioning

Gavaskar also pointed out that the slip fielders were not in the right areas.

"I feel the positioning of the men behind the wicket was also not quite right. I saw from the commentary box today that the slip fielders were encroaching upon each other's territory. They are so close to each other that one feels the other is going to go for the catch. I think they need to look into it." stated a puzzled Gavaskar.

It can be noted that the Asian giants even experimented with slightly different slip positions in the second Test at Lord’s. Also, a trusted fielder behind the stumps – Ravichandran Ashwin has not been fielded by the team management in the series so far. Even Virat Kohli is not a sure bet as he has put down some catches in the past tours and also in the first Test at Trent Bridge. It is now, without a doubt, that India miss some experienced hands to hold on to some catches.

Jadeja should be in the outfield

Despite all the fuss around the drop, the recently relieved BCCI President expressed his confidence in Jadeja to do well as an outfielder.

"He (Jadeja) is a brilliant fielder. If he is in the outfield, he can surely save a lot of runs. Because of his agility, that's the best place for him. In the slip cordon, Jadeja will take catches but he is better use to the team if he is at cover or in the outfield," he conceded.

Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane and Ravindra Jadeja were the men standing in the slips for the longer part of day 1. Rohit Sharma and Murali Vijay are the other options available for the skipper.