Former Indian skipper Mohammad Azharuddin has questioned coaching staff after Indian batting failures. In fact, Virat Kohli is the only batsman who has scored consistently in the ongoing series.
Kohli has amassed 544 runs at an average of 68 in eight innings he has played. Thus, Kohli has looked at a different level whereas other Indian batsmen have failed to hit the ground running.
India was not up to the mark with the bat.
India lost the fourth Test at Southampton and thus England took the unassailable lead of 3-1 in the five-match series. Therefore, it has been another disappointing overseas series for India.
“We lost the series because of poor batting and our batsmen were committing the same mistakes throughout. What is our coaching staff doing?” Azharuddin was quoted as saying by The Times of India on Tuesday.
Must Read | Alastair Cook Announces Retirement.
Meanwhile, Indian batsmen have looked at sea while playing against the moving ball in the arduous England conditions. KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan could not get going after getting off to starts and the middle order was left with greater onus.
“Technically, our batsmen were found wanting. We didn’t play the moving ball well. We can’t depend only on Virat Kohli. Openers like Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul too didn’t get runs. The middle-order was left with too much to do. We should have taken at least a 100-run lead after Cheteshwar Pujara’s hundred [in the fourth Test],” Azhar observed.
Virat Kohli fought a lone battle.
In fact, Azharuddin believes it was India’s best chance to win the series. They had a potent bowling attack who scalped all the 20 wickets except the Lord’s Test. However, the batsmen could not turn the tide.
“We could have done better. This was our best chance to win the series because we had the best bowling attack and in every game, they got those 20 wickets and gave our team a chance to throttle the opposition,” said Azhar who played 99 Tests in his 15-year career.
Meanwhile, there was some peculiar decision making as far as the selection policy was concerned. India had dropped Cheteshwar Pujara from the first Test match, which was a surprise. However, Mohammad Azharuddin doesn’t want to make any remark regarding the selection.
“I can’t say if there was any selection error or not because I wasn’t there to see what prompted the India team management to make those changes. But the entire batting unit didn’t respond well to the challenges. I have to compliment the way Kohli batted throughout the series. But it boils down to one thing. It’s a team game and all the other batsmen need to complement their captain,” he said.
Indian batting could have been better, however, the tourists were not up to the mark. The batters were not able to tackle the conditions and it led to their downfall.