Sunil Gavaskar Expresses Puzzlement over Bumrah and Siraj's Tactics Against Travis Head: 'Reminiscent of the World Cup Final'

The left-handed batsman smashed 140 runs off just 141 balls, including 17 boundaries and four sixes. Despite being dropped by Mohammed Siraj when he was in the 70s off Ravichandran Ashwin's bowling, Head capitalized on the opportunity and went on to almost double his score.

Gavaskar said the Indian bowlers failed to put any pressure on Head as they didn't test him with short balls. He asserted that they committed the same mistakes which they did in the 2023 WTC and 2023 ODI World Cup finals, where he also scored centuries to take the game away from India's race.

"It's just baffling. We heard about it in WTC final, we started to get into uncomfortable situations. It was similar in the World Cup final. We hardly tested him. Pitch it up, he might throw bat, he might get the middle of the bat, or there is a possibility that he might edge it, but India never tried to put him under pressure," Gavaskar said on Star Sports.

The legendary cricketer pointed out that the likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj didn't cause much trouble for Head and bowled in the areas where he was comfortable.

"You have to ask them. Harshit Rana got it a bit wrong, Siraj got lovely bouncer, Bumrah does too between shoulders and helmet. Nothing of that sort was tried, everything was around middle. Australian and South Africans are very good with playing such deliveries," he added.

Meanwhile, Siraj put an end to Head's magnificent knock for 140, but Australia managed to take a crucial 157-run first-innings lead. For India, the peerless Bumrah (4/61) and Siraj (4/98) were the most successful bowlers, as Australia were all out for 337 in reply to India's 180.