"There is not a single player apart from them who has come and won five matches" - Virat Kohli's childhood coach on India's top order
Virat Kohli's childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma believes that India's top-order big guns should not be blamed for the team's recent underwhelming performances in white-ball cricket.
During a discussion on India News Sports, Sharma named senior batters Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul as invaluable assets. He claimed that apart from these players, nobody has proven to be a matchwinner for the national side in recent years.
He explained:
"We are fortunate to have four such top-order batters who have consistently done well over the years. We cannot blame them, as our top order is our biggest strength.
"These are the only three or four players that we have who have been able to match what's happening in world cricket. There is not a single player apart from them who has come and won five matches for India on his own."
Notably, the Men in Blue have been criticized by many for their inability to clinch an ICC trophy since 2013. Rohit Sharma’s side failed to make it to the final of the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia this year after suffering an embarrassing 10-wicket loss to eventual winners England in the semi-finals.
"India have to understand that the game has now progressed a lot" - Saba Karim
Speaking in the same video, former keeper-batter Saba Karim stated that the side's failure to implement any major changes to their squad in limited-overs cricket has led to their downfall.
Karim claimed that India have not been able to keep up with the pace of modern-day cricket, pointing out how they have persisted with the same set of players over the years. He elaborated:
"India have to understand that the game has now progressed a lot. We have persisted with the same players, and there have been minimal changes in our batting order.
"This shows that we haven't been able to keep up with the pace of modern-day cricket. We still think that this same approach and the same set of players are going to make us successful in the future."
#BANvIND
bit.ly/BANvIND-1STODI
Things went right down to the wire but it was Bangladesh who won the first ODI.
#TeamIndia will look to bounce back in the second ODI of the series 👍 #BANvIND
Scorecard 👉 bit.ly/BANvIND-1STODI https://t.co/Ko3Snyqdpp
Rohit Sharma and Co. suffered a heartbreaking one-wicket loss in the ODI series opener against Bangladesh after being bundled out for 186. The second fixture, set to be played at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka on Wednesday, December 7, will be a must-win affair for the visitors.