Former cricketer not happy with Team India's clinical win over Windies

Last year, there was a similar clamour when India played a weak Sri Lanka ahead of their South Africa tour. It was said that playing such a side would help India little ahead of a challenging tour where they eventually lost the Test series. This year, too, history is repeating itself as a former Indian cricketer questioned the logic of hosting the Windies ahead of the Australia tour starting next month.

India have so far thrashed the Caribbeans in whatever form they have played. After winning two Tests in six days, Virat Kohli’s men hammered the visitors by eight wickets in the first of the five-match ODI rubber with the captain leading from the front with yet another smooth century.

The Windies set a target of 323 for the Men in Blue but their pedestrian bowling attack saw the hosts pocketing the game with 47 deliveries to spare. Rohit Sharma also slammed a ton and put up 246 runs for the second wicket with Kohli after India lost Shikhar Dhawan early.

While the fans were ecstatic with India’s clinical show in the game, former Indian spinner Bishan Singh Bedi wasn’t too convinced. He questioned the logic behind playing a home series against the Windies ahead of a tough tour Down Under.

He described the result in Guwahati a “total massacre of mediocrity” and said such games did not help India find any solution to their problems. He cited, for instance, the move to play two wicket-keepers in the match in MS Dhoni and debutant Rishabh Pant.

India yet to live up to the expectations

This year, India have been making some of the most challenging overseas tours. After South Africa where they lost the Test series 1-2, India had another gruelling tour of England where they lost the ODI series 1-2 and Test series 1-4. Though India’s bowlers did well on both these tours, it is their batsmen who failed to live up to the expectations. Kohli was the only exception as he was the stand out performer in both the countries.

India are now set to embark on yet another tough tour where they will play four Tests and three T20Is and as many ODIs. Australia is one of those countries where the Asian giants are yet to win a Test series and the last time they returned undefeated from there was in 2003-04 when Sourav Ganguly’s side drew the Kangaroos 1-1 in a four-match Test series.

This time, Australia will be without two of their premier players – Steve Smith and David Warner – who are serving a ban but given India’s recent performance overseas, especially in Tests, not many are confident that they would create history in the upcoming series.

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