Former Indian batter Mohammad Kaif slammed India’s batting collapse in the second ODI against England at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff on Thursday. India was going strongly at 178-3 at one stage with Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer at the crease.
However, the visitors veered off the track as they were skittled out for a below par score of 233 in 44 overs. The Indian batters were troubled by short deliveries as the likes of Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Axar Patel and Washington Sundar were all dismissed on short balls.
Kaif slammed India for not playing full 50 overs against England.
“The first thing we learnt from our seniors about ODI cricket was that we have to bat for 50 overs. If you score 20-30 runs after playing those overs, then that is another thing, but you have to play the full 50 overs. Nowadays we talk about batting depth, we had batting till No.8 today. India will be disappointed that they could not bat the full 50 overs,” Mohammad Kaif said on Cricbuzz.
On the other hand, Indian skipper Shubman Gill also expressed his disappointment regarding India’s mundane batting display.
“Quite disappointing, to be honest with you. We thought 300, 310 would be a good total after 25 overs. We were at a good position. But, we lost too many wickets in the middle overs. I mean, our tailenders are not the best batsmen. But I think we expected a bit more from our lower middle order and we were not able to capitalize on the start that we got,” the skipper said during the post-match presentation.
Meanwhile, Kaif is impressed with the way Shubman Gill is leading his troops in the ongoing ODI series against England.
“Shubman Gill is captaining well, his graph is going up. I am seeing that he is becoming a much better captain. In a short span of time, he has shown a lot of calmness, control, smart bowling changes, and steady captaincy. Although India lost the match, he did a tremendous job as a captain,” Mohammad Kaif concluded.
The decider of the three-match series between England and India will be played at Lord’s on Sunday.
