Former Indian opener Kris Srikkanth slammed India’s tactics in the field after they suffered a 27-run loss in the third ODI against England at Lord’s on Sunday. England posted a gargantuan score of 387 runs on the board as Indian bowlers looked toothless in the absence of gun fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah.
All the five Indian bowlers conceded their runs at an economy rate of more than six, with Gurnoor Brar being taken for 97 runs in his quota of 10 overs.
Srikkanth questioned why Indian captain Shubman Gill didn’t employ a sixth bowler when all the main bowlers were leaking runs. On the other hand, Jacob Bethell returned with impressive figures of 1-49 in seven overs he bowled.
Srikkanth expressed his surprise at Kuldeep Yadav’s exclusion and said the wrist spinner would have made the difference.
Kris Srikkanth said on his YouTube Channel, “Kuldeep Yadav would have made a huge difference. On the other side, England are bowling Bethell and he is winning them the game with the ball. They tried all their bowlers, even Jacks and Bethell. But when you are getting smashed, why not give Shreyas Iyer two overs of legspin? Even Rohit Sharma could have bowled a couple of overs. Why, even Virat Kohli could have bowled two to three overs. If you push five to six overs this way, the 387 could have been 360.”
“Kuldeep Yadav has gone there as just a tourist to sing London bridge is falling down. He should have been an automatic choice especially when England batters have always been bunnies to wrist spinners. Axar Patel is just rolling his arms without even trying to spin the ball. He doesn’t even get any revolution on the ball. Did he try to spin one ball? They are better off with Jadeja instead of Axar. Atleast Jadeja will do something with the bat and win you games.”
The 1983 World Cup-winning player questioned the fast bowlers for not trying any variations in their bowling.
“Not one of the pacers tried any variation. Can’t the bowling coach instruct them from inside during the drinks break? This management has pushed many good bowlers to the shed and keep picking guys they like. I won’t even pick Arshdeep in the scheme of things in ODIs. India’s bowling is just terrible without Bumrah,” said Srikkanth (via the aforementioned source).
India’s next ODI series is at home against the West Indies.
