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The legendary Indian cricketer and former coach Madan Lal lambasted Men in Blue's lacklustre approach which cost them the Bangladesh ODI series and said that the Indian team lacked ‘intensity and passion’ and was heading in the wrong direction. India suffered a one-wicket loss in the first ODI and a five-run defeat in the second outing respectively which ultimately left them in lurch after Bangladesh clinched the series 2-0 with a match yet to be played.
"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," Lal said.
"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 added.
Marred by injury woes on and off this year, Deepak Chahar could only bowl three overs during the second ODI against Bangladesh. The Indian players are struggling with the fitness issues with veteran bowlers of the likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja missing out of the series owing to injuries.
Highlighting fitness issue of players, skipper Rohit Sharma on Wednesday said that India "can't have guys coming in to play for the country half-fit."
Referring to Rohit's observation, Lal, who is a member of the 1983 World Cup winning team, said: "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." India had crashed out of the T20 World Cup after losing to eventual champions England in the semifinals. Rohit Sharma and Co also made early exit from the Asia Cup after losing their super 4 games to Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Lal put the blame on top-order batters for India's not-so-impressive performance in recent times.
"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."
The former India all-rounder also slammed bowlers for their lack of intensity.
"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?" Asked if there was a need to have different players for different formats, Lal said: “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”.
India's ODI squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), KL Rahul (vc), Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Rajat Patidar, Rahul Tripathi, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Sen, Umran Malik, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Shahbaz Ahmed, Mohammed Siraj.
Bangladesh's ODI squad: Litton Kumer Das, Anamul Hague Bijoy, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Afif Hossain, Yasir All Chowdhury, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Mustafizur Rahman, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Ebadot Hossain Chowdhury, Nasum Ahmed, Mahmud Ullah, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Quazi Nurul Hasan Sohan, Shoriful Islam.
With PTI Inputs…
