'Got exposed,' Former Pakistan player tears into India batters following series loss vs New Zealand
Indian team management tightens screws after Test series loss to New Zealand
Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali tore into the Indian cricket team batters following their struggle in the ongoing Test series against New Zealand. India batters suffered multiple collapses, including one being all out for 46 in the first Test in Bengaluru.
In the second Test, India failed to chase 359 on a spinning track in Pune and lost the Test. This was their first ever home Test series loss against New Zealand at home and Ali was not kind to the performances.
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"I had said chasing 350-plus will be too difficult. There had to be a ton from one of the top three batters. India's batting got exposed. In the first match, the Kiwi pacers took 17 wickets. In the second Test, spinners took 19 wickets. India players were neither able to play pacers well nor spinners. On a track that had pace and bounce (Bengaluru), India lost and on a spinning track, India lost as well," Basit said on his YouTube channel.
"The match India won against Bangladesh in two days and New Zealand's 2-0 defeat in Sri Lanka, the team might have thought they would beat the Kiwis easily. This means, that Indian management and Indian players were overconfident. New Zealand did their homework. They had nothing to lose. No one would have thought that the Kiwis might be able to defeat India. Even New Zealand themselves wouldn't have thought of something like this. But they did their homework," he added.
India would want their best batter to hit form as soon as possible, as their two losses against New Zealand have left them in crunch to make it to their third consecutive World Test Championship (WTC) Final.
India have six Tests remaining in the cycle now and must win at least four of them to guarantee a place in the WTC Final. After the third and final Test against New Zealand, they travel to Australia for a five-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy which starts November 22.
