"They will still have some T20 contract somewhere" - Sunil Gavaskar slams modern-day cricketers after South Africa's dismal batting vs India

Sunil Gavaskar blasted modern-day cricketers for their attitude after South Africa were dismissed for a paltry 116 in the first ODI against India. Gavaskar feels their poor performance stems from having too many options in the T20 leagues around the globe to make money.

Winning the toss and batting first, the Proteas displayed little resistance on a helpful Wanderers wicket. They succumbed to their lowest ODI total at home.

Speaking to Star Sports after the game, Gavaskar claimed that having several options around the word makes players take the easy way out.

"Today, players have options. You play for your country, you play T20 leagues… you still can put the food on the table. And therefore there is this tendency to go bang-bang (with the bat)! (There is a tendency) If they don’t score runs, if they don’t take wickets, if they get dropped, so what? They will still have some T20 contract somewhere, if not with the IPL, then some league or the other," said Gavaskar.

He added:

"That makes players take a lot less responsibility. They try to take the easy way out, which is to go ‘bang-bang’. If they succeed, great. If they don’t, the team is 116 all out. So what? There will be another match two days later. Back in my day, we didn’t have too many options. If we failed, we had to go back to club cricket. And there was no money in club cricket back then."

India had no trouble knocking off the target, in a mere 16.4 overs, to inflict the second-worst ODI defeat for South Africa (in terms of balls remaining). The visitors now have a 1-0 series lead.

The pace duo of Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan combined to take nine of the 10 wickets with a sensational display of pace bowling. South Africa's dismal batting display comes after they were bowled out for 95 in the final T20I at the same venue three days back.

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"We need to take smart options in a given situation" - Aiden Markram

Klaasen was one of many South African batters to fold cheaply.

South African skipper Aiden Markram pointed to the batters' inability to assess the situation and take the right option for their horrendous performance.

The hosts lost two wickets inside the first two overs and were in danger of not reaching three figures at 58/7 in 13 overs. However, a few runs from the lower order and the tail saved the Proteas from further embarrassment.

At the post-match presentation, a disappointed Markram blamed the individual batters and demanded they have better plans to combat trying conditions.

"Tough one. Winning the toss, batting first we would have wanted to bat well. Credit to the Indian bowlers. We were behind from the very first ball. Couldn't recover. We expected it to go around a little bit. In the first 6-7 overs, it does do a bit. Today, it lasted a little longer and they bowled well. Comes down to individuals. It is up to them to assess and then plan it forward. We need to take smart options in a given situation," said Markram.

Only four South African batters reached double figures, with the 33 from Andile Phehlukwayo being the highest.

The hosts will gladly move away from Johanessburg and head to Gqeberha for the second ODI on Tuesday, December 19.