"First look into your own performances and then have suggestions on Pakistan" - Former Pakistan pacer slams Indian side after Sri Lanka series loss
Former Pakistan pacer Tanvir Ahmed launched a scathing attack on the Indian side, which recently lost the three-ODI series to Sri Lanka. Ranked No.1 in the world, the Men in Blue suffered a shocking 0-2 defeat to the struggling Lankans in their backyard.
Rohit Sharma's men struggled to chase down sub-250 targets in all three ODIs, including a dismal 138 all-out in the final game that saw them lose by 110 runs to surrender the series.
Tanvir Ahmed had a full go at the Indian batters and the side after the stunning defeat to Sri Lanka and felt Pakistan would handily defeat their arch-rivals without the star trio Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Jasprit Bumrah.
"First look into your own performances and then have suggestions on Pakistan. If Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah does not play against Pakistan, Pakistan will beat India hands down," Tanvir said as quoted by Cricket Pakistan.
He added:
"You see what happens to the Indian batting lineup from here on in the future. The bowling lineup might work it out but the batting lineup will find it difficult. All the new batters in this Indian team at the moment, barring Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, they cannot carry forward this batting lineup in the future."
While Jasprit Bumrah was not part of the series, Rohit and Kohli played all three ODIs but could not save the sinking Indian ship.
The Men in Blue lost 27 out of the 30 wickets to spinners with only skipper Rohit scoring over 100 runs in the three games.
"They might score runs in their home conditions on flat pitches" - Tanvir Ahmed
Tanvir Ahmed had initiated his criticism by foreseeing similar results for the Indian batting in the future on non-flat tracks at home.
Except for Rohit's average of 52.33 and Axar Patel's 26.33, none of the other Indian batters even touched an average of 20.
"They might score runs in their home conditions on flat pitches but on pitches where the ball turns seams and swings this batting lineup of India does not have the life to bat in those conditions. They could have scores runs in the first match, that ended in a tie, could have scored runs in the second and third ODI as well," said Tanvir Ahmed via the aforementioned source.
It was India's first bilateral ODI series defeat to Sri Lanka in the century with the last coming in 1997.
India defeated Sri Lanka 3-0 in the T20Is preceding the ODI battle, adding further surprise to the result of the three-match ODI series.