"They are so far committed to the front foot" - Sunil Gavaskar urges Indian batsmen to play on the backfoot 

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar was highly critical of the technique employed by the Indian batsmen during Day 1 of the fourth Test against England. The visitors were bundled out for 191 and it was a similar narrative that grabbed the spotlight with respect to the Indian batting.

That swing @jimmy9 💫Scorecard & Videos: https://t.co/Kh5KyTSOMS🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 #ENGvIND 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/rT9MZv3jpO

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) September 2, 2021

The usually reliant opening pair of KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma were victims of the new ball once it started swinging consistently. Their dismissals left India reeling at 28/2.

Chris Woakes' return was a constant menace to the batsmen and he ended up with four wickets to his name. Virat Kohli's half-century and Shardul Thakur's 57-run blitzkrieg were the only positives as the rest of the entourage collapsed.

Sunil Gavaskar noted that the Indian batsmen were committed to the front foot, which made it difficult for them to leave the deliveries that they shouldn't be playing. Speaking on Sony Sports Network following the end of the day's play, Gavaskar said:

"You see the length that is being bowled and see where the batsmen are playing. They are so far committed to the front foot, it's very difficult for them to drop their bats. They just tend to sort of go for it. If you're on the backfoot just that little bit, you have that nano second to drop your wrists and let the ball go."

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You may look like an idiot but you'd still be batting: Sunil Gavaskar

Gavaskar admitted that batting in such a fashion won't be the prettiest of sights, but one has to take such measures to value the wicket and remain at the crease. Six of India's dismissals came off edges, with a majority of them occurring from full deliveries outside off-stump. Gavaskar added:

"You may look like an idiot but you'd still be batting. Whether you look like an idiot or look great, doesn't go down in the scorebooks. It's the number of runs you score. When you follow the ball like (Cheteshwar) Pujara has been doing - he is committed to the front foot - you get yourself into trouble."

That's Stumps on Day 1 of the 4th Test at The Oval!England 53/3 & trail #TeamIndia by 138 runs. 2⃣ wickets for @Jaspritbumrah93 1⃣ wicket for @y_umesh We will see you tomorrow for Day 2 action. #ENGvIND Scorecard 👉 https://t.co/OOZebP60Bk pic.twitter.com/VSDdzbsrlR

— BCCI (@BCCI) September 2, 2021

India needed a half-century from Shardul Thakur to prod them towards the 200-run mark. The all-rounder managed to top the scoring in the first innings with 57 runs to his name.

India managed to claw their way back into the match by picking up three England wickets in the final session. One of those was the vital wicket of Joe Root, who was cleaned up by Umesh Yadav close to the end of the day's play.