As the ODI leg of India's tour of Sri Lanka finished with a 2-1 series win for the visitors on Friday (July 23) in Colombo, former Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag has singled out the 'biggest disappointment' for the Indian cricket team and named the player who disappointed him the most.
In the three-match ODI series, a number of youngsters managed to impress with their game and there were a lot of positives for India from Deepak Chahar’s heroics with the bat in the second ODI to debutantes Chetan Sakariya and Rahul Chahar’s bowling efforts in the final ODI in Colombo.
Apart from Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan, Sanju Samson had also an impressive ODI debut, scoring 46 runs in the final ODI which India lost by three wickets on Friday to Sri Lanka.
After the final ODI on Friday, Sehwag said Manish Pandey – who scored 26, 37, and 11 in his three outings – was the “biggest disappointment” for India and is one who disappointed him the most, as he failed to grab the opportunity and score despite there being not too much pressure on him. He was also unhappy with Hardik Pandya’s performance with the bat in the ODI series.
Sehwag told Cricbuzz: “Here was an opportunity for Manish Pandey and even Hardik Pandya for that matter. Both had scored some 15-20 runs so they disappointed me more. In this three-match series, if anyone got the most benefit, it was Pandey. He played all three matches and got the chance to bat, and on all the three occasions, the situation wasn't challenging either that he had to accelerate.”
He added, “So, I believe Pandey has disappointed me the most. Perhaps he may no longer get a chance in ODIs for India, and even if he does, it is going to be a long time. Since he lost the opportunity to score in these three matches, he's fallen behind in the pecking order. Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan have scored runs so these two will be considered ahead of him in the middle order.”
Meanwhile, Prithvi Shaw had a good start in the ODI series, scoring 43 in the first ODI and 49 in the third, but failed to capitalize on starts and the way he was dismissed on both occasions not impressed many but Sehwag backed the youngster by saying sometimes players can’t read the game properly.
He signed off by saying, “I understand that when a player is in touch, he would want to score more but it sometimes happens that you cannot read the game properly like it happened with Shaw. He probably did not expect the ball to come to him so quickly and rap him on the pads.”
