Indian pacers were taken to cleaners by England batters in the third and final ODI at Lord's.
Former India batter Cheteshwar Pujara has urged the Men in Blue seamers to learn from the thrashing they got in the recent ODI series loss to England, as their performance will be crucial if India are to win the upcoming 2027 ICC Cricket World Cup.
The England batters dominated the Indian seamers in the series finale at Lord’s on July 19 after star pacer Jasprit Bumrah was sidelined by injury.
Gurnoor Brar (97 runs), Prince Yadav (79 runs, one wicket), Arshdeep Singh (72 runs), and Prasidh Krishna (69 runs, two wickets) gave away 317 runs in their 40 overs. England managed to put up 387/3 runs in 50 overs, thanks to Ben Duckett’s 141 and fifties by Joe Root and Jacob Bethell.
"There are a lot of learnings from this series for the Indian seamers. They'll have to learn a lot because when Bumrah was around, the bowling attack was looking different. The seamers have to do the job if India are to win the 2027 World Cup. Some of the young fast bowlers will learn their lessons from this series. India also needs an all-rounder, and it's important for them to figure out who that'll be for the World Cup,” Cheteshwar Pujara said on Star Sports.
In response, Rohit Sharma (138), Shubman Gill (77), and Virat Kohli (74) did well to keep India in the chase, but after their dismissals, the rest of the Men in Blue batters failed under the pressure of chasing a huge total.
"If the Indian bowlers had restricted England below 350, it was still gettable. But 387 was a little too much. However, credit goes to the Indian batters for the way they played. They looked in complete control and followed what England did in the powerplay. Till the 40th over, India was in the run chase," he added.
Legendary Indian opener Rohit Sharma was praised by Cheteshwar Pujara for his incredible century under pressure against England at Lord's. With 138 off 110 deliveries, the right-hander delivered a brilliant knock amid several rumors that the England series might be Rohit's last hurrah for India.
"There was a lot of outside noise. But credit goes to him for the way he handled himself. There was no pressure when you looked at his facial expression and body language. Of course he took his time, but once he was set, he started accelerating. And the way he accelerated tells you all about his character, temperament, and mental toughness, because of which he has achieved a lot of success," said Pujara.
"It was a big moment even though Rohit has scored a lot of runs in ODIs. Because of the outside noise, this knock was special as he was under pressure. Once he was set, it looked like a completely different Rohit Sharma, back in form. This will take him a long way, looking at the 2027 World Cup,” Pujara concluded.
India will now play ODI matches in September, when the West Indies will visit for a white-ball series.