Sunil Gavaskar terms death bowling a perennial issue for Team India

Australia won the first T20I convincingly [PC: Twitter]

India were handed a harsh four-wicket defeat by Australia in the first T20I of the three-match series in Mohali on Tuesday. Indian bowlers' incompetency in the death overs on good batting tracks was exposed once again, as it led to their third loss in last four games while defending a total. 

With the World Cup being around the corner, many former greats have lashed out at the Indian bowlers for their horrendous performance in the slog overs. However, legendary ex-opener Sunil Gavaskar believes that death bowling has been a long-standing issue for the Men in Blue. 

Here's what Gavaskar said on Sports Tak

"This is India's weakness. This isn't a new problem. It has existed for years now that when they are defending, they find it difficult without Bumrah. When he is there, the score can be defended, but without him, they give away even 200-plus totals. Having said that, we need to look at the solution for it. Else, going forward, it may hurt them."

Notably, Indian bowlers conceded 62 runs at a poor economy of 14.31 in the slog overs, which led to the team's debacle in Mohali. With Jasprit Bumrah set to return, we expect a better performance from the hosts in the death overs in the second T20I in Nagpur on Friday. 

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