After team India’s shocking ODI series defeat against Bangladesh, former Indian pacer Venkatesh Prasad came down heavily on the Men in Blue’s approach in the white ball cricket.
Prior to this, India lost to New Zealand 0-1 in a rain-curtailed ODI series in the Kiwi land. After back-to-back series losses, Prasad urged the think tank to make tough calls going ahead. “India is innovating in so many fields across the world. But when it comes to playing limited overs cricket, our approach is a decade old,” commented Prasad.
The former bowling coach also stressed that India needs to change their approach drastically. “England after the 2015 World Cup first round exit took tough calls and turned around to become such an exciting team. India need to take tough calls, and change the approach drastically.”
One critical observation Prasad made was how after the advent of cash-rich Indian Premiere League (IPL), India hasn’t been able to win a single T20 World Cup. “We haven’t won a T20 WC since the IPL started and last five years have been poor in ODIs apart from winning inconsequential bilateral.”
He further criticized, “Haven’t learned from our mistakes for too long and far from being an exciting team in limited overs cricket. CHANGE.”
Former Indian swashbuckling opener Virender Sehwag also took to Twitter and said, “Cryptos se bhi tez gir rahi hai apni performance yaar. (Our performance is falling faster than cryptos). Need to shake up - wake up."
Meanwhile, team India skipper Rohit Sharma, who injured his thumb in the second ODI, has been ruled out of the final ODI against Bangladesh and will fly to Mumbai to consult an expert. Deepak Chahar and Kuldeep Sen have also been ruled out of the final ODI owing to injury concerns. Head coach Rahul Dravid, however, has brushed aside concerns surrounding India's form in ODI cricket and hoped to have a full-strength side in the upcoming series.