"You need to be brutally upfront" - Sunil Gavaskar wants India to drop struggling pacer for 5th BGT 2024-25 Test

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar looked extremely displeased with Mohammed Siraj’s performance on the first two days of the ongoing fourth Test against Australia in Melbourne. The 75-year-old believes that the Hyderabad-born pacer should have been dropped for the game owing to his below-par outing in the series, conceding runs at an economy rate above four runs an over.

The reaction came as Siraj gave away 122 runs in his 23 overs and returned wicketless against Australia in the first innings, failing to assist the pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah again after managing just four wickets each in the last two Tests.

Sunil Gavaskar told Star Sports (via NDTV):

"I think Siraj, perhaps, needs a little bit of a break. In the sense, I am not saying a break, he needs to be told that he is left out of the team for non-performance. There has to be a situation where you can't beat around the bush.”

He continued:

“You need to be brutally upfront and say 'look, your performance has not been up to scratch, and therefore you are being dropped.' When you start talking about 'rest,' players get wrong ideas. They feel they don't need to up their game."

“But I think Siraj needs to be told 'Look, you are not bowling as well as we expected you to on pitches that have been helpful'. That is something that needs to be told," Gavaskar added.

Siraj is India’s second-best bowler with 13 wickets in four Tests so far. Jasprit Bumrah stays atop with 25 scalps in seven innings. Australia captain Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc are second and third with 16 and 14 scalps, respectively.

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“Prasidh Krishna and Harshit Rana” – Sunil Gavaskar reckons India can make two changes for the fifth Test

Sunil Gavaskar suggested India can make two bowling changes by bringing in pacers Harshit Rana and Prasidh Krishna. The cricketer-turned-commentator said during the same interaction:

"If you want to make two changes. Prasidh Krishna and Harshit Rana to support Jasprit Bumrah. By all means, do that.”

Like Siraj, Rana had conceded 86 runs and returned wicketless in the second Test. He, however, scalped four wickets on his debut in Perth, where India won by 295 runs. Meanwhile, Krishna picked up 10 wickets in his two games for India A against Australia A before the five-game series.

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