India loss against Sri Lanka in the 2nd ODI of the three-match series left everyone utterly shocked. The 2024 T20 World Cup champions had a horrible outing with the bat as they failed to chase the target of 241 and got bundled out for 208. As the first match ended in a tie, India trail 0-1 in the three-match series. Talking about the overall performance, apart from skipper Rohit Sharma, no other Indian batter was able to deliver to his full strength.
Star batter Virat Kohli was one of the biggest disappointments in the first two games as he miserably failed to get a big score. In the first match, Kohli was dismissed for 24, followed by 14 runs in the second match. In both the games, Kohli was dismissed by spinners.
Seeing the back-to-back struggles of Kohli against spin, former Pakistan batter Basit Ali stated that India’s poor performance showed their lack of practice.
“A great batsman like Virat Kohli, the world’s number one batsman, has been out LBW twice. It’s understandable if it happens to Iyer or Dube, but Virat Kohli is Virat Kohli. This means that he is not in practice,” said Basit on his YouTube channel.
“It did not seem that this is the batting lineup which rules the world. I feel that Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul probably haven’t even practiced. These people have come without practice,” he added.
Ali also criticised batter Shreyas Iyer for poor show and stated that he should be replaced by the likes of Rinku Singh, Rishabh Pant, or Riyan Parag.
“I don’t understand what is Shreyas Iyer going to do with such performances. I think the time has come for Rishabh Pant, Riyan Parag, and Rinku Singh,” said Ali.
“India’s 50-over domestic tournament will be vital for Gautam Gambhir because he will have to take some players from there. If India pick players based on reputation, the results won’t be too good in the Champions Trophy,” he added.
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