‘India Lost To A Team That Didn’t Make The World Cup’: Prasad Shreds ‘Clueless’ Hardik, Dravid In ‘Painful’ Rant

Team India were handed a shellacking on Sunday at the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium Turf Ground, Lauderhill, Florida.

All the talk about the team standing on verge of a sensational and historic come-from-behind T20I series win against West Indies was shattered as the hosts scripted an emphatic eight-wicket win to script their first ever bilateral contest win against the Men in Blue. Following the shocking defeat, former India cricketer Venkatesh Prasad savaged captain Hardik Pandya and head coach Rahul Dravid for the “ordinary” performance in white-ball cricket and making poor strategic calls during the series.

Opting to bat first in the fifth and final T20I match of the series, Suryakumar Yadav waged a lone battle against the Windies attack with his 61 off 45 that took India to 165 for nine. Brandon King and Nicholas Pooran then almost wrapped up the chase with their stellar 107-run stand before Shai Hope provided the finishing touches. West Indies eventually chased down 166 with two overs to spare.

Moments after the series defeat, Venkatesh reiterated his “very ordinary limited-overs side” remark which he had made after India went 0-2 down in the series against West Indies highlighting the team’s performance in the ODI series as well and the loss against Bangladesh in the 50-over format last year.

“India has been a very very ordinary limited overs side for sometime now. They have been humbled by a West Indies side that failed to qualify for the T20 WC few months back. We had also lost to Ban in the ODI series. Hope they introspect instead of making silly statements,” he tweeted.

The former India bowling coach revealed that more than the defeats, what has hurt him more has the way the team management has dealt with the situation. He feels that the “fire and hunger” for wins has been missing from the present Indian white-ball team which now heads towards the Asia Cup, followed by the ODI World Cup.

“Not just 50 overs, West Indies had failed to qualify for the T20 World cup last Oct- Nov as well. It pains to see India perform poorly and brush it under the carpet, under the garb of process. That hunger, fire is missing and we live in an illusion,” he added.

When asked about captain Hardik and head coach Dravid, Prasad did not mince words to opine that they have been “responsible for the debacle”.

He said: “They are responsible for the debacle and need to be accountable. Process and such words are misused now. MS meant it, guys now just use the word. There is no consistency in selection, random stuff happening too much. India needs to improve their skillset. Their is a hunger & intensity deficiency & often the captain looked clueless. Bowler’s can’t bat, batsmen can’t bowl. It’s important to not look for yes men and be blinded because someone is your favourite player but look at the larger good.”

A Jasprit Bumrah-led India, without the likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Hardik, will next face Ireland in a three-match T20I series before the team assembles for a camp at the NCA for th Asia Cup later this month.