Team India after their dismal performance in the test series against England has now understandably has come under a lot of criticism from the media and former cricket legends. Former Sri Lanka captain Arjuna Ranatunga has blamed the BCCI and IPL for the poor show by the Indian team. He stated that the team got carried away by the IPL. It seemed that they don’t need outside influences to harm Indian cricket.

Cricket: India faces heavy criticism

Ranatunga said that just after their World Cup win, most of the Indian players went straight to play the IPL and then missed put on the West Indies tour. He added that some delayed their surgery to their injury so as to be able to play the IPL. This meant that the players came half-fit and not match ready into a important test series against the England at their own backyard. He said that even for a player like Kumar Sangakara, it took nearly a month to adjust to the conditions in England. He said that to play in England, preparation is very important and that he didn’t understand how India ignored it.

Former Indian captain Ajit Wadekar felt that the 4-0 whitewash was more due to the result of fatigue and lack of preparation.  He too felt that after the World Cup victory, the players were busy with the IPL and the West Indies tour. He said that the body language was terrible and that they looked tired.

A former Australian legend, Ian Chappell, expressed his dislike against the Indian Board of letting its senior players have too much say in the selection process, which according to him was a major reason for the debacle in England. He said that the BCCI are more in the business of money-making than cricket and in the process have let the senior players have a little too much say in the selection of the playing eleven.  He feels that India as a country has a lot of talent but there needs to be a system that produces good, young, skillful, competitive cricketers. If there are a good number of players that can perform for you then it won’t matter if one is playing Test, ODI or T20.

Chappell also went on to discuss about the issue of having a decent pace attack for the Indian side. He urged the need for a fast attacking bowler to build a good all round team. Apart from this he also mentioned that the selectors do need to look at the issue of an ageing batting line up. He thinks highly of Rohit Sharma than Suresh Raina but he selectors decided to go with Raina.

England on the other hand looked fresh and were rearing to go. They had the determination and had the home advantage. They performed far better than the Indian side and they thoroughly deserved the test win. The 4-0 win that took them to the top test rank, were just the indication of the level of preparation and readiness of the England team.

Tags: Ajit Wadekar, Arjuna Ranatunga, BCCI, Cricket, England, Ian Chappell, India, Indian Cricket, IPL, Team India