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Cricket Players'They are very casual, gifted games to South Africa': Madan Lal slams India batters; 'Must take more responsibility'
Former India bowler Madan Lal has come down heavy on the performance of India's batters during the recently-concluded tour of South Africa.
Former India bowler Madan Lal has come down heavy on the team's performance in the recently concluded tour of South Africa, calling out the players for their "casual" approach and their inability to learn from their mistakes.
At Newlands, Cape Town, the Proteas defeat the KL Rahul-led side by four runs to win the third and final ODI and complete a 3-0 clean sweep. Earlier on the tour, India had won the opening Test in Cape Town but lost the following two to concede that series too.
Madan Lal, a member of India's 1983 World Cup-winning squad, listed why India lost a match they should have easily won and why the twin series loss is so disappointing
"They got out while attempting the glory shot otherwise this match could have easily been won. In international matches, batters must take more responsibility. If you go in with a casual approach, you are going to keep losing matches and series like this. Apart from the first Test, we haven't played good cricket. We have gifted games, that we should have won, to South Africa.
"They (the players) are just very casual and are playing casual shots. Rishabh Pant played a casual shot and he didn't keep the wicket well either, dropping two caught behind chances. We didn't see a 100-150-run partnership. We haven't learned from our mistakes," he elaborated.
Meanwhile, former batters Sanjay Manjrekar and Aakash Chopra also reacted to the series defeats.
“The way the match ended sums up the whole trip for India. It has to be one of the poorest Indian tours to South Africa. That’s how it was destined to be. It just wasn’t India’s time in South Africa. It is a bad loss," Manjrekar told ESPNCricinfo.
"Last year, the overwhelming thought during India’s tour to Sri Lanka was that India can field two teams at the same time and still win. 8 months later, India struggled to win a single game in a series with the best side (minus Rohit). How did we get here?" tweeted Chopra on Monday.
