'How many centuries have they scored in last 3 years?': India legend blasts Rohit, Kohli, Rahul after Bangladesh loss
In wake of a forgettable series loss in Bangladesh, a former India World Cup winning all-rounder has come down heavily on the senior batters of the team and blamed them for not playing to their potential.
The criticism surrounding Team India's performance is growing with each passing day following their ODI loss to seventh-ranked Bangladesh. The failure to click as a unit, coupled with multiple injury concerns is hurting India big time. The lingering issues that have existed since the Asia Cup are still persisting, as a result of which a team that enjoyed one of its most successful years in 2021, are enduring an equally poor outing in 2022. After getting eliminated from the T20 World Cup in the semifinals, the belief was that the Indian team will set its sights on the 50-over World Cup next year, but after suffering consecutive ODI series defeats to New Zealand and Bangladesh, the team needs a wake-up call before it gets too late.
In wake of a forgettable series loss in Bangladesh, India's World Cup winning all-rounder Madan Lal has come down heavily on the senior batters of the team and blamed them for not playing to their potential. India lost both matches despite the presence of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan in the Playing XI, but barring a half-century from Rahul in the first ODI, there hasn't been much to offer. Rohit, with a dislocated thumb put on a courageous effort but it is his and others' overall performance over the last few years that Lal has put a question on.
"If you see the record, how many centuries they (seniors) have scored in the last three years? And how many in the last one year? With age-factor, your hand-eye coordination slows down. But they are experienced players and they should have performed. If your top order does not perform you are not going to win," he told PTI.
Kohli has scored just one century in the last three years – against Afghanistan in the Asia Cup earlier this year, while India captain Rohit has fared slightly better with three. Rahul has two as well but both have come in Tests. The Indian top three, which used to inject a fear factor into the opposition – has been on the wane which has really dented the team in the last couple of years. But it isn't the batting alone that Lal is unimpressed with. He rightly points out the sharp decline in India's bowling as well, which appears rather handicapped in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami despite the availability so many options.
"Your bowling unit has become very weak suddenly. It looks like they are not going to get any wickets. After 69 for 6, Bangladesh managed to score 271. So what is all this going on? Every country is playing like that. Must have specialised cricketers for different formats. Why not have different players for different formats? All countries are doing it and India should also do the same," he pointed out.
