India have lost the first two ODIs against Bangladesh and conceded the three-match series.
Chasing 272 to win, the Men in Blue were reduced to 65/4 before Shreyas Iyer (82) and Akshar Patel (56) added 107 runs for the fifth wickets to bail India out of trouble. Once the partnership was broken, the visitors suffered another mini collapse and slipped to 213/8.
While skipper Rohit Sharma, who sustained a thumb injury during Bangladesh’s innings, produced a scintillating half-century (51* off 28 balls) batting at No. 9, it wasn’t enough to take the tourists over the finishing line.
After the result, former cricketer Madan Lal slammed the Rohit Sharma-led side, saying that it lacked “intensity and passion” and was heading in the wrong direction.
“Definitely the Indian team is not going in the right direction. I have not seen the intensity in the team of late. I have not seen ‘josh’ in them in the last couple of years,” Lal told PTI in an interview.
“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.”
After the ODI series defeat, Rohit Sharma expressed his concerns at the injury woes to multiple Indian players in Bangladesh.
Mohammad Shami, who was selected for the series, was ruled out before the tour while the likes of Rishabh Pant, Deepak Chahar, Kuldeep Sen and Akshar Patel faced injury issues.
“We need to monitor their workload because we can't have guys coming in to play for the country half-fit,” Rohit stated.
Referring to Rohit’s comment, Madan Lal 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.”
Before the debacle in Bangladesh, India faced a semi-final exit from the T20 World Cup 2022 while they failed to qualify for the Asia Cup 2022 final.
Lal held the top-order batters accountable for India’s unimpressive 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 71-year-old was also critical of the 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?”
Madan Lal also endorsed the idea of having specialised cricketers for different formats.
He 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.”
(With PTI inputs)