Joe Root's patient unbeaten 99 led England to 251-4 on an attritional and compelling first day of the third Test against India at Lord's on Thursday.
Daryl Mitchell's runs had steered the hosts to their victories in Tauranga and Hamilton and when he departed for 44 to leave his team still 27 runs from their target on 196-8, the English scented an unlikely victory.
Gavaskar didn't mince words as he tore into India's sub-par work in the field, both in terms of dropped chances and overall outfielding.
'We cannot say suddenly that Crawley and Pope have solved the technical and mental issues that have dogged their careers because the Zimbabwe bowling was so average.'
India unravelled on Day 2 of the fourth Test at Old Trafford, their bowling plans in disarray and tactical calls under scrutiny.
Mohammed Siraj credited fellow seamer Akash Deep for playing a big role in his six-wicket haul during Day 3 of the second Test against England in Birmingham.
Ganguly said he would have preferred Arshdeep over Prasidh Krishna.
Rishabh Pant, who hit two centuries in the Headingley Test, now trails top-ranked batter Joe Root by just 88 points.
Travis Head took 4-28 as Australia strangled England with spin before launching a rapid pursuit of their target with rain in the air to clinch the One-Day International series 3-2 following a 49-run win via Duckworth-Lewis-Stern in Bristol on Sunday.
Gill clashed with England openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, accusing them of deliberately wasting time.
Star Sports, the official broadcasters in India, tweeted a clip of Brook playing mind games with Krishna.
Jamie Smith smashed a counter-attacking 89 before England's bowlers made early inroads into the Pakistan line-up to drag the touring side back into the deciding third and final Test.
Stokes, who sustained a hamstring tear in English domestic tournament The Hundred last month, is continuing his recovery along with Zak Crawley who fractured his right little finger at Edgbaston in July.
Keshav Maharaj took 4/22 as South Africa thrashed a woeful England side by seven wickets after dismissing the hosts for just 131 runs in the first One-Day International.
"Came here to give myself every chance to play just as batter": Stokes after being ruled out of Oval Test
England secured a 26-run victory over India in the third T20I in Rajkot on Tuesday to stay alive in the five-match series.
IMAGES from Day 1 of the third Test match between England and India at Lord's, London, on Thursday.
On a tense Day 4 at The Oval, the England batter blazed his way to a 98-ball century, dragging his team back into the contest and into the history books.
Jos Buttler top-scored again as England chased down an imposing target and beat West Indies by four wickets in the second T20 International on Sunday to take a 2-0 lead.
Joe Root returned to England's one-day international squad for the first time since their ill-fated World Cup title defence in November
England have named two uncapped players in Essex duo Sam Cook and Jordan Cox in the squad for the one-off Test match against Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge later this month.
India's batters Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar refused England skipper Ben Stokes' offer to call off the fourth Test and settle for a draw before the start of the final hour of play.
Washington Sundar's double strike pegged England back in the afternoon session, leaving them struggling 175/6 at tea on Day 4 of the third Test, at Lord's.
Selected at number three ahead of the burgeoning talent of Jacob Bethell, who averaged 52 on his first Test tour of New Zealand, Pope settled after early scares to compile his ninth Test century.
Group A includes defending champions India, Pakistan, UAE and Oman, while Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Hong Kong are in Group B.
Siraj was the day's hero and India have pulled ahead, but England are not out of the contest by any stretch of imagination.
Gill earns glory with maiden double hundred, puts India on top in second Test
Jofra Archer will play his first Test in more than four years as he replaces fellow seamer Josh Tongue for the third Test at Lord's.
England, who beat Pakistan by an innings and 47 runs in the first Test, will conclude the series with a third match in Rawalpindi from October 24.
'...he's not shown any obvious signs of dismissal and he's played stylishly.'
England on Monday named four specialist spinners, including the uncapped duo of Tom Hartley and Shoaib Bashir, in the 16-member squad for next month's five-Test series in India.
Harshit Rana returned to take 3 big wickets and become the first Indian bowler to take 3 wickets on debut across 3 formats.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan feels Zak Crawley's time-wasting tactics at the end of the third day in the ongoing third Test was "as good a piece" he has ever seen, but said India can't complain as the visitors employed the same approach on the second day at Lord's.
IMAGES from Day 2 of the second Test played between Pakistan and England in Multan on Wednesday.
Commentators speculated the injury might be a fracture, though the extent of the damage remains unconfirmed.
This was India's seventh defeat in their last nine matches as their poor run in Test cricket continues following successive series defeats against New Zealand at home and in Australia.
As England and India gear up for the final showdown in the five-match series for the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy at The Oval, former England speedster Stuart Broad feels the hosts should make some changes to their Playing XI and rest tearaway Jofra Archer.
Coming off a commanding 336-run win at Edgbaston, Team India not only ended their winless streak at the historic venue, but also levelled the five-match series 1-1 in stunning fashion thanks to Shubman Gill's twin hundreds and a rousing spell from pacer Akash Deep.
India are favourites to secure victory and draw the series, but England will still fancy their chances of completing what would be by far the highest successful Test run chase at The Oval.
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