The Indian cricket team lost the third Test against England at Leeds’ Headingley Carnegie cricket ground for the series to tie at 1-1 after their batsmen, with the exception of Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli in the second innings, flopped and failed to put runs on the board.

For the former captain of the Indian cricket team Sunil Gavaskar, arguably the biggest reason to worry during the third Test and arguably the remainder of the series is the fact that the majority of the Indian wickets which fell during the two innings were caught either by the wicket-keeper Jos Buttler or the players standing at the slips.

While a common factor was the incredible swing provided by the Leeds’ conditions, it is also worth mentioning that the Men in Blue suffered with it a lot more than the hosting English side.

Addressing this issue in the post-match conference of the match, Gavaskar said:

"That would concern everybody (with Indian batsmen getting out in similar fashion) because despite the fact the lines that England bowlers bowled were outstanding lines, around the fourth and fifth stump which is difficult for the batsmen, but when the lengths were a little further up, they got the wickets.

"When you bowl short of the length, every batsman has the time to play or leave it. Once the batsmen were drawn forward, there's not much you can do and that is where the bat speed factor comes in.

"Most of the dismissals, if you have a look, it's at hard hands at the ball. You have to give credit to the bowler, it's a beautiful delivery. A lot of deliveries that got Virat Kohli out or Ajinkya Rahane out were good deliveries. Still, the batsmen went for it and that is where they got themselves out. That's definitely a cause for concern," explained the little master.

With the score tied at 1-1, the series is anybody’s to win. With a few days to go before the fourth Test starts from September 02, 2021, Virat Kohli and Co. will be travelling to London’s Oval cricket ground and get themselves used to the pitch with the hopes of taking a 2-1 lead.

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