Ex-cricketers and critics might be stating the ‘˜young team’ tag on the current Indian team but some of the members in the team have played quite a few games.
Ex-cricketers and critics might be stating the ‘young team’ tag on the current Indian team but some of the members in the team have played quite a few games. Dropped catches, missed stumpings and poor fielding are one of the reasons that led India’s exit from the Asia Cup. So who were the villains that deserved our negative remarks? We tell you here:
Rohit Sharma
Except for that battling half-century against Pakistan, Rohit Sharma was a failure in this Asia Cup. His form still remains a worry and with important tours to England and Australia in the pipeline, Dhoni and selectors must decide the faith of the Mumbai batsman.
Dinesh Karthik
When MS Dhoni was ruled out of the Asia Cup with an injury, opportunity beckoned Dinesh Karthik to put on the India Blues again. But unfortunately, Karthik has failed to grab hold of the break given to him in the team. His dropped stumping chance of Kumara Sangakkara and Sohaib Maqsood in consecutive games cost India the result they required. Also, Karthik could not capitalise with the bat too and only manage 29 runs in 3 games played.
Shikhar Dhawan
Yet again Delhi southpaw Shikhar Dhawan failed to give India the right start at the opening slot. Besides the 94 he scored against the Lankans, Dhawan could only muster up 132 runs at a strike rate of 77.19. Team India missed his blistering batting at the top order.
Ravichandran Ashwin
Yet another fruitless performance with the ball, Ravichandran Ashwin is slowly turning out to be a liability for Indian cricket team. Even though Ashwin fails to perform abroad, his sub-continental form is pretty good but at the Asia Cup, his 6 wickets tally was not enough to take India into the final.
Ajinkya Rahane
Mumbai-born Ajinkya Rahane had the perfect opportunity to announce himself on the world stage with the bat. Unfortunately, he could only muster up 118 runs at a paltry average of 39.33 in the 3 games played so far. Rahane is a talented player and could be a much improved player on what the above statistics suggest.
Duncan Fletcher
It’s time the Zimbabwe-born coach was shown the door. Duncan Fletcher’s tactics are tame and mild and on the outset, Team India look a pale shadow of their former champions’ image. BCCI committee were to review MS Dhoni and Fletcher’s performance after their disastrous outing in South Africa and New Zealand and now with another ouster (Asia Cup), Duncan deserves the axe!
Overall, Team India did not deserve a final berth at all. Their batting, fielding and work ethic was abysmal and poor to say the least. Even the children on the streets could have caught the ones our players fumbled to hold on to. With such a poor showing, it’s time for a shake up and should start ASAP!
