Not done!

Saturday turned out to be a disappointment day for cricket fans. The much-awaited India-Pakistan clash did not go as expected. Rain played spoilsport. Cricket fans all across the globe waited with trepidation for a classic match but in vain. I must appreciate Pakistani bowlers for putting up a great show. Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah did not allow Indian batters to flex their muscles. They were spot on.

Once again Indian openers failed to even get going. Skipper Rohit Sharma, Shubham Gill and Virat Kohli completely succumbed to the pace attack. While Shreyas Iyer who looked promising for a few minutes but lacked patience. Full credit goes to Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya for showing courage and patience. Together they added 100 plus runs and helped India reach to a respectable total.

But the Indian batting completely failed once again. This is not a good sign for Indian cricket. The Indian management needs to chalk out a plan for the future. For a very long time, Indian batters are struggling to get going.

I don’t know what happened with team India. I feel BCCI should think beyond their star players. Star players are constantly failing.

I feel young players should be included in the side. I still don’t understand why India is still banking on Shardul Thakur for an all-rounder slot. He also failed to click once again.

I feel this is high time for BCCI to take a strong call. ICC World Cup is a few weeks away and such performance from the Indian team is a sad state. I also feel sad for Indian coach Rahul Dravid who himself was a great player of his time but is unable to show his skills as a coach.

Vinod Negi,
By email