Former Indian cricketers Sunil Gavaskar, Venkatesh Prasad and Virender Sehwag have raised tough questions after India lost to Bangladesh in the 2nd ODI at Sher-E-Bangla stadium in Dhaka on Wednesday.
Gavaskar knocked down Rohit Sharma for not coming to bat earlier in the 2nd ODI.
Gavaskar said on Sony Sports Network: “Everyone knows the quality and class of the man. And the point now when India got so close is why didn’t he come batting sooner? If he was going to bat at number 9 then he would have hit hit number 7.
India lost in a blood-curdling game by five runs. Indian skipper Rohit Sharma injured his finger during the second over trying to catch a catch in second slip. Rohit later came to bat at number nine in the second innings and scored a blistering 51*(28).
“What that could have done, I think, is that Axar would have played Patel differently. Axar thought maybe Rohit Sharma wouldn’t hit, and that’s why he played that shot. At that stage there was no need to play that shot. Axar batted so well, he took the ball well, and if he had continued, you never know, the outcome could have been different At number 9 he almost took India to a memorable victory, so if he had come to bat at 7 , India would have had a much better chance,” Gavaskar added.
Elsewhere, former cricketers Virender Sehwag and Venkatesh Prasad were unhappy with India’s recent ODI performance. Both players took to Twitter to express their discontent.
Venkatesh Prasad mocked India’s approach by tweeting, “India is innovating in so many fields around the world. But when it comes to playing limited overs cricket, our approach is ten years old. England made tough decisions after going out of the first round of the 2015 World Cup and turned to become such an exciting team that India has to make tough decisions.
India has now lost two bilateral ODI series in a row against New Zealand and Bangladesh.
“And change approach drastically. We haven’t won a T20 WC since the IPL started and for the last 5 years we’ve been bad at ODIs apart from winning unimportant bilaterals. We have not learned from our mistakes for too long and are far from being an exciting team in limited overs cricket. CHANGE,” Prasad added.
And change approach drastically. We haven’t won a T20 WC since the IPL started and for the last 5 years we’ve been bad at ODIs apart from winning unimportant bilaterals. We have not learned from our mistakes for too long and are far from being an exciting team in limited overs cricket. MODIFY
— Venkatesh Prasad (@venkateshprasad) December 7, 2022
Virender Sehwag, on the other hand, tweeted: “Cryptos se bhi tez gir rahi hai apni performance yaar. Need to shake up – wake up.
Cryptos se bhi tez gir rahi hai apni performance yaar. Need to shake up – wake up.
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) December 7, 2022
India will play the final of the third and final ODI in Chattogram on Saturday.