Madan Lal says India has themselves to blame after series loss vs. South Africa, urges management to back specialists ahead of all-rounders

Former Indian all-rounder Madan Lal believes India has themselves to blame after the series loss against South Africa. India was outplayed by the Proteas as the visitors took the series by 2-0, which is their first series win in India since 2000.

The tourists won the second Test match by a mammoth margin of 408 runs at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati. Meanwhile, India were able to come up with a collective effort especially with the bat, as they could even cross 210 runs in any of the four innings of the series.

Lal has urged the team management to back specialist players ahead of all-rounders. Nitish Kumar Reddy returned with scores of 10 and 0 in the second Test whereas Sundar scalped one wicket in two matches at an average of 128.

“It is a debacle, as the team has played poor cricket. When we play a series at home, we do not expect such a performance. The Indian team cannot blame anyone, but themselves. Test cricket is not for all-rounders; it demands specialists. Having five to six batsmen, one or two all-rounders, and then a fleet of bowlers, both pacers and spinners, is what is needed. One more thing I could not understand is why the team was changed, given that they played well in England,” Madan Lal told ANI.

Meanwhile, India has suffered five losses in the last seven Test matches at home and head coach Gautam Gambhir said the team needs to start prioritising Test cricket to get desired results.

“Start prioritising Test cricket if we are really, really serious about it. If we really care about Test cricket, and if we want Test cricket to flourish in India, I think we have got to collective effort to make that happen. Because just blaming the players or blaming the support staff, or blaming certain individuals, will not help. We cannot put things under the carpet,” Gambhir said during the post-match press conference (via Star Sports).

India will next take on Sri Lanka in a Test series in August 2026.