Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra slammed India’s batting after the visitors suffered a 0-4 series loss against England. India suffered a 56-run loss against England in the final T20I at Rose Bowl, Southampton on Saturday.
The hosts posted a par score of 257 runs on the board but India could only manage 201 runs. Ishan Kishan and Tilak Varma scored fifties but none of the other batters could come up with any substantial contributions.
Chopra highlighted that India’s batting performance was not up to the mark throughout the series. The visitors were even skittled out for a paltry score of 76 runs in the third game.
“In batting, timidity was visible. A cautious and conservative approach was seen. You got all out for 76 and couldn’t chase 150-odd runs. You batted first at times because you got out quickly in the previous game, and then you made 150. After that, when you came to bowl first, you conceded 260,” Chopra said on his YouTube Channel.
“We used to boast that we bat very aggressively, that we want to chase 250 or score 250 while batting first, but we didn’t play like that at all. We have been a pale shadow of that. The truth is that batting has been timid, and timid batting doesn’t work in T20 cricket. Our batting looked extremely cold,” he added.
Barring Shreyas Iyer, who scored 218 runs, none of the other Indian batters could even score more than 150 runs in the five-match series.
The renowned commentator also questioned the fast bowlers for not adjusting to the required conditions and said they lacked in planning and execution.
“Let’s talk about the fast bowlers as well. Varun Chakaravarthy and Harshit Rana got injured, but the fast bowlers, if we see across the two series in Ireland and England, haven’t really adjusted as much. You still find inconsistency in planning and execution, and in understanding these different conditions,” he said.
“You find that there are a lot of problems there. The fast bowling was also extremely cold. They didn’t adapt that well. When we went to English conditions, although some conditions were not that English, we have not really adapted well,” Chopra observed.
India and England will next take on each other in a three-match ODI series, starting Tuesday at Edgbaston, Birmingham.
