Though the Indian team have managed to make it to the semifinals of the ongoing T20 World Cup in Australia, former England captain Nasser Hussain has criticised the opening batting of the Men in Blue.
As per Hussain, both the openers of Men in Blue – Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul are opening in an ‘old fashioned’ way.
“You have to say they have underperformed in world tournaments. At times they have played some timid cricket with the bat. As per their former coach Ravi Shastri, they have to change,” Hussain wrote in his column for Daily Mail.
“Rohit and Rahul do play in a slightly old-fashioned way in the first few overs. But that has suited India in this tournament because the ball has moved around at the start. India need to be more dynamic if they are going to win World Cups and that is where Suryakumar Yadav has been so important,” the former English batsman added.
However, Hussain was effusive in his praise for in-form explosive batsman Suryakumar Yadav who has scored 225 runs in five games at the mega event so far.
“India’s dynamism comes at three and four where Virat Kohli is still the master. Now they have a considerable apprentice in Suryakumar. I don’t think I have ever seen a better white-ball innings than the one Kohli played against Pakistan in the group stage at Melbourne. The way he paced his innings as well as some of the shots he played at the end were spectacular. Any professional cricketer watching that innings on TV would have sat up and just said ‘wow!'” Hussain wrote.