Passion of playing for country is missing: Madan Lal slams Team India after ODI series loss vs Bangladesh

Team India has been a pale shadow of themselves in the Bangladesh ODIs. After losing the series opener, in defence of 187 in Dhaka, Rohit Sharma-led India went down in the second and penultimate ODI to lose by five runs and concede an unassailable 2-0 lead to the Bangla Tigers. With one game to go, to be held on Saturday (December 10) at Chattogram, 1983 World Cup-winning hero Madan Lal has slammed the team citing there is a lack of intensity and passion among players.

"Definitely the Indian team is not going in the right direction. I have not seen the intensity in the team of late. I have not seen 'Josh' in them in the last couple of years," Lal was quoted as saying by PTI. "They are not looking like an Indian team at all. That passion for playing for the country is missing. Either their bodies are too tired or they are just going through the motions. And this is a serious concern."

The former cricketer also slammed the seniors such as Rohit, Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan for not making daddy hundreds and leading from the front. While Kohli regained form in T20Is, he hasn't done anything extraordinary in ODIs -- his most preferred format -- whereas Dhawan's strike rate has also gone down. It is to be noted that since the start of 2020; the triohave only one ton in ODI cricket combined -- coming from Rohit Sharma's blade in January 2020. Thus, Lal pointed out, "If you see the record, how many centuries they (seniors) have scored in the last three years? And how many in the last one year? With the age factor, your hand-eye coordination slows down. But they are experienced players, and they should have performed. If your top order does not perform, you are not going to win."

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Madan Lal also cautioned India to change their approach and look for more specialists in white-ball format. "Every country is playing like that. Must have specialised cricketers for different formats. Why not have different players for different formats? All countries are doing it and India should also do the same," he added.

India will lock horns with Bangladesh in the third and remaining ODI on Saturday and look to avoid a whitewash at the hands of the Bangla Tigers. Captain Rohit is ruled out due to his thumb injury and a final report is awaited on his participation in the upcoming two Tests versus the Bangladeshi line-up, starting on December 14.