Srinagar: Former India pacer and coach Venkatesh Prasad has lashed out at Hardik Pandya and Rahul Dravid for the “ordinary” performance after series defeat vs West Indies.
“India has been a very very ordinary limited overs side for sometime 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,” he tweeted.
The former India bowling coach revealed that more than the defeats, what has hurt him more has the way the team management has dealt with the situation. He feels that the “fire and hunger” for wins has been missing from the present Indian white-ball team which now heads towards the Asia Cup, followed by the ODI World Cup.
“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 added.
When asked about captain Hardik and head coach Dravid, Prasad did not mince words to opine that they have been “responsible for the debacle”.
He said: “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. India needs to improve their skillset. Their is a hunger & intensity deficiency & often the captain looked clueless. Bowler’s can’t bat, batsmen can’t bowl. It’s important to not look for yes men and be blinded because someone is your favourite player but look at the larger good.”
