Former Indian opener Kris Srikkanth slammed head coach Gautam Gambhir and co. after series loss against England. India won the opening ODI at Edgbaston, Birmingham by six wickets but lost the second ODI at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff by four wickets.
The visitors then suffered a 27-run loss in the third ODI at Lord’s after they conceded a gargantuan score of 387 runs on the board. Earlier, India suffered a 0-4 series loss in the T20I series against England and they were also stunned by Ireland 0-2.
Kris Srikkanth said on his YouTube Channel, “In the middle of so many losses, India will sneak in a Champions Trophy and a T20 World Cup. Using that, Gambhir will get hailed. Yet, in reality, Gambhir is accountable for these results. The team management has to be accountable overall. But in India, that’ll never be there so these will be brushed under the carpet.”
On the other hand, the 1983 World Cup-winning player added that series against Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka and the West Indies should not be considered. He reckons India is not giving chances to deserving players like Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ravindra Jadeja, who have performed consistently.
“Now they’ll crush Zimbabwe and then after that beat teams like West Indies and Sri Lanka. Time will fly through these till the World Cup next year. And everyone will say India is back to form. But in reality, these series shouldn’t even be considered,” said Srikkanth (via the aforementioned source).
“Yet, everyone will forget this England tour once the Zimbabwe series starts in two days. They’ll keep picking their favorites and leave out so many other worthy players like Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shami, Siraj, Krunal Pandya and Jadeja.”
India’s next ODI series is against the West Indies in September.
