Former India allrounder Madan Lal has blasted the national team's top stars, including skipper Rohit Sharma, talismanic Virat Kohli, and vice-captain KL Rahul following a spate of poor performances in recent years.
Madan Lal was particularly concerned about the lack of centuries from the bat of the three batters as in the last three years, Rohit Sharma has struck only three tons while KL Rahul and Virat Kohli have two and one to their name.
Madan Lal's scathing remarks about Team India's famous trio came after the Men in Blue suffered a shocking 2-0 ODI series loss to Bangladesh in Dhaka on Wednesday. In the first two games of the three-match series, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and KL Rahul have all experienced failures.
While Rohit Sharma flopped in the first match, KL Rahul had a poor outing in the second game. Virat Kohli, on the other hand, has been unable to score in both matches, failing to reach double digits in Bangladesh so far.
“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,” Madan Lal told the news agency PTI.
“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,” Madan Lal pointed out.
Earlier, the 1983 World Cup-winning allrounder reacted to skipper Rohit Sharma's statement in which he raised questions about the fitness levels of the national team's cricketers.
In recent months, Rohit Sharma has lost many key players due to their fitness issues. Among the high-profile names to miss out on tournaments in recent days were Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, and Jasprit Bumrah.
During India's ongoing tour of Bangladesh, India has already seen the likes of Kuldeep Sen and Deepak Chahar suffering injuries, leading to a huge selection problem in the ODIs there.
“I mean there are definitely a few injury concerns. We need to try and get to the bottom of it. I don't know what exactly it is. Maybe they're playing too much cricket. We need to try and monitor those guys, because it's important to understand when they come for India, they need to be a 100 percent, in fact more than a 100 percent,” Rohit said after the match.
“It's something we have to look at. We have to sit with our team back home at the NCA as well and try and monitor their workload. That is something we need to look at. We can't afford guys coming in here half-fit and representing the country. There's huge pride and honour in representing the country and if they're not fit enough, it's not ideal. Having said that, we just need to get to the bottom of it and find out what exactly is the reason behind this,” Rohit Sharma further stated.
“It is a very sad thing. If the captain is saying this then something is wrong somewhere. Who is responsible for this? Are trainers responsible for this? Why are unfit players going? You are playing international cricket and the result is in front of you. If they want to take rest, they can take rest during IPL matches. Your country comes first. If you are not going to win ICC trophies, your nation's cricket is going to go down,” Madan Lal said.
“Definitely the Indian team is not going in the right direction. I have not seen the intensity in the team off late. I have not seen ‘Josh' in them in the last couple of years. They are not looking like an Indian team at all. That passion of playing for the country is missing. Either their bodies are too tired or they are just going through the motions. And this is a serious concern,” he mentioned.
On the other hand, former India wicketkeeper Saba Karim was also concerned about the fitness levels of Indian cricketers.
“The frequency with which Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami are getting injured, the time has come for India to create a new pool of fast bowlers. We need to look beyond them as well. Same with spinners. Who will be our three top-quality spinners in ODIs? Chahal, Axar, Sundar? If yes, then keep playing with them. The time to try out people is gone,” Saba Karim argued.
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