"Never seen spinners bowl so poorly in any form of cricket" - Madan Lal
Madan Lal has reproached Indian spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Krunal Pandya for their forgettable outing in the second ODI against England. The former India all-rounder remarked that he had never seen spinners bowl so 'poorly' in any form of cricket.
India lost the second ODI by six wickets as England chased down 337 runs in just 43.3 overs. Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes laid into Kuldeep Yadav and Krunal Pandya from the start, hitting them for 156 runs in their 16 overs. While Kuldeep gave away 84 runs in his 10 overs, Pandya conceded 72 in his six.
In a conversation with Sports Tak, Madan Lal remarked that Team India didn't field their "best two spinners" on Friday.
“When Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow got going, the Indian spinners at the time - Krunal Pandya and Kuldeep Yadav - did not bowl well. I have never seen the spinners bowl so poorly in any form of cricket ever. Every bowler gets hit (by the batsmen), but if you have to get hit, at least, let them be good deliveries, that way there will be chances for the bowlers, but you should not be bowling such poor deliveries. I don’t think India played their best two spinners in the match,” said Madan Lal.
India have no dearth of spinners as Washington Sundar and Yuzvendra Chahal wait in the wings. While the hosts will most likely stick with Pandya, considering his batting prowess, Chahal is expected to replace Kuldeep in the series decider.
"Kuldeep Yadav doesn't have the spin that he earlier had" - Madan Lal
Madan Lal also added that Kuldeep Yadav has lost his turn and accuracy and is not the wicket-taker he used to be.
“Kuldeep Yadav, maybe he is short of game time, but in his bowling, the flight that he earlier use to give the ball and the turn he had, although this wasn’t a turning wicket, but he does not have the spin that he earlier had. He bowled a lot of short-pitched deliveries on Friday. Krunal Pandya was not sure on where he had to bowl. Rarely have I seen spinners bowling in such a way in international cricket where they are unsure on where to bowl, and that too they were bowling in such a manner to Ben Stokes, who is a powerful hitter,” concluded Madan Lal.
The India-England ODI series decider will be played on Sunday. The visitors will want to end the tour on a high after losing the Test and T20I series.