Former cricketer Venkatesh Prasad tore into India captain Hardik Pandya and head coach Rahul Dravid for the debacle in the West Indies, where the Men in Blue recently lost the T20I series 3-2 to the Rovman Powell-led side.
For the unversed, this was India's first defeat to the West Indies in a bilateral T20I series.
Venkatesh Prasad claimed that the Indian team management, comprising coach Rahul Dravid and skipper Hardik Pandya was living in an illusion, pointing out the fact that the visitors lost to a side that had failed to qualify for the 2022 T20I World Cup and the 2023 ODI World Cup.
The ex-India speedster labeled the Indian cricket team “ordinary”, highlighting that the Asian heavyweights last won an ICC tournament in 2013. They bagged the Champions Trophy title under the leadership of the legendary MS Dhoni a decade ago.
“India has been a very very ordinary limited overs side for some time now. They have been humbled by a West Indies side that failed to qualify for the T20 WC few months back. We had also lost to Ban in the ODI series. Hope they introspect instead of making silly statements,” Venkatesh Prasad posted on X, previously Twitter.
“Not just 50 overs, West Indies had failed to qualify for the T20 World Cup last Oct- Nov as well. It pains to see India perform poorly and brush it under the carpet, under the garb of process. That hunger, fire is missing and we live in an illusion,” he pointed out.
Subsequently, an online user urged Venkatesh Prasad to share his opinion on Hardik Pandya's captaincy and the team management, including head coach Rahul Dravid. In reply, he didn't hold back his words, stating that they should be held accountable for the poor show of the side in the Caribbean.
“They are responsible for the debacle and need to be accountable. Process and such words are misused now. MS meant it, guys now just use the word. There is no consistency in selection, random stuff happening too much,” he opined.
“India needs to improve their skill set. There is hunger & intensity deficiency & often the captain looked clueless. Bowlers can't bat, batsmen can't bowl. It's important to not look for yes men and be blinded because someone is your favorite player but look at the larger good,” he argued.
Even Hardik Pandya's current India teammate, Ravichandran Ashwin, was critical of his comments.
“I don't think it is too early (to talk about the T20 World Cup),” Ravichandran Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
“There are plenty of positives from this T20I series. It is very easy to criticize the team on social media since they lost to a team that didn't qualify for the last T20 World Cup. They haven't qualified for the upcoming 50-over World Cup as well. I want to give a piece of information to you guys,” he noted.
“I am not talking, backing, or supporting anybody. All of these are secondary. As a youngster, if you are going to the West Indies, there will be some challenges. In all countries, there will be some innate secrets. The local players know these things more than visiting players. Especially if the players are young,” Ravichandran Ashwin stressed.
“(WI fans) Credit to West Indies. They didn't qualify for both the T20I and ODI World Cups. Their entire island looked disappointed because of this. They spoke about the rich legacy they once had. In fact, a taxi driver told me how intensely they follow the game. They follow the game with insane passion even today.”
“MS Dhoni and a few coaches of mine have said this: ‘When you lose you learn so many things. But people who learn even when they win, will become champions,” he summed up.
On the other hand, 1983 World Cup winner Sunil Gavaskar said India should take their defeat to the West Indies as a wake-up call.
“The loss to West Indies should not be a dampener. Don’t forget that they have won the ICC T20 World Cup twice, and their players are matchwinners for the different franchises they play for in the IPL. So they are a top-class T20 team, and there’s no shame in losing to them.”
“It should be a wake-up call, to see the areas where India needs to improve to strengthen its side. Some of those who were rested for this series may not be around for too long, so their replacements need to be found pretty quickly too, as the next ICC T20 World Cup is just a year away,” Sunil Gavaskar said in his column for a leading sports magazine.
Follow Us
Subscribe
