Former Indian head coach, Ravi Shastri has criticized Indian team management for not playing with an extra bowler.
India suffered a heavy loss against New Zealand in the first ODI. The men in blue failed to defend a giant total of 306. The hosts initially struggled in the chase after being 3 down for 88 runs in 20 overs. However, India let the momentum slip. They failed to hold on to that pressure.
Indian bowler leaked way too many runs in the middle, which allowed Kane Williamson and Tom Latham to stabilize their foot on the ground. Latham and Williamson took calculated chances and managed to secure their wickets.
As a result, both batters put together a record-breaking partnership of over 200 runs and sealed the game for their team. New Zealand chased down the total with 2 overs to spare. With that, the hosts were 1-0 ahead in the 3-match bilateral ODI series.
Ravi Shastri stresses the need for an extra bowling option
The one thing that the skipper and the think tank of the Indian team were criticized for was the lack of an extra bowling option. India fielded with just 5 bowling options. When the regular bowlers were leaking a lot of runs in the middle, Shikhar Dhawan had no one to look up to for chipping in a few overs.
Former Indian cricketer and coach Ravi Shastri has spoken out about it. He supported the idea of having an extra bowler on the team. In a post-match segment with Amazon Prime Video, Ravi Shastri was asked to express his thoughts on India missing out on a sixth bowling option.
To this, Ravi Shastri replied that the Indian management and the skipper need to think hard about this. They do need a sixth bowling option in the playing XI. This can ease some pressure on the team and the bowlers as well.
“I think seriously they will have to think of a sixth bowling option. They will have to think of it.”
India was trailing in the 3-match ODI series. However, the second game got abandoned due to excessive rain disruptions. The hosts are still leading the series. Moreover, India can now only try and level the series in the third and final game.
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