West Indies pace legend Andy Roberts has heavily criticized the Indian team after their 209-run loss to Australia in the recent final of the World Test Championship (WTC 2023) at the Oval and called the team and their cricket arrogant and having a superiority complex.
Team India continues to draw criticism for their repeated errors in ICC knockout matches. India has missed eight chances to add an ICC trophy since the 2013 Champions Trophy, including two WTC finals.
Even the greatest have been unable to solve the enigma of why this team, which contains the biggest match-winners in international cricket, hasn’t taken home a major trophy.
Andy Roberts, renowned West Indies pacer, is the most recent to critique India’s performance, calling them conceited and overconfident.
India Have Underestimated The Rest Of The World: Andy Roberts
As the IPL vs. country issue is unlikely to go away anytime soon, Roberts, who was the leader of the renowned Windies pace quartet and is widely regarded as the best fast bowler of all time, believes India must set their priorities straight.
“There is this arrogance which has crept into Indian cricket and through this, India have underestimated the rest of the world. India must decide what their focus is—Test cricket or limited overs cricket. T20 cricket will run its course. There is no contest between bat and ball there,” Roberts, told Mid-Day.
“I expected India to show their batting strength. I saw no bright spot in the final although Ajinkya Rahane fought hard; got hit on his hand. Shubman Gill looks good when he plays those shots, but he stands on leg stump and is often dismissed bowled or caught behind. He has good hands, but he must get behind the ball. Virat Kohli, though, got a brute of a delivery from Mitchell Starc in the first innings. India have some very good players mind you, but they have not performed creditably away from home,” he added.
India have repeatedly gone down without a fight is what has been the biggest letdown. Look at the Champions Trophy final of 2017, the 2019 World Cup semi-final, the WTC final of 2021 or the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia- it has been a pattern.
“I harbored no such hopes. I knew they would collapse. The batting in both innings was bad,” he signed off.