Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali has spoken about India’s defeat in the second ODI against the Sri Lanka national cricket team. He said that the way the Rohit Sharma-led team batted, it seemed like they had forgotten how to bat against bowlers.

In a poor batting display, the Indian National Cricket Team failed to reach the target of 241 runs and lost the second game of the series against Sri Lanka by 32 runs. They struggled against the opposition bowlers and ended up conceding a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

India started the innings with great enthusiasm as captain Rohit Sharma led the attack on the bowlers. The opening batsman scored a half-century in just 29 balls and finished with an innings of 64 runs. He was well supported by Shubman Gill (35) as they had an opening partnership of 97 runs.

However, after that, nothing went in India’s favour as they lost wickets in an instant. They tweaked the batting order and tried to have a left-right combination but it didn’t work as Jeffrey Vandersay ran through the Indian batting line-up and took 6 wickets to tilt the game in his team’s favour.

Axar Patel played a fighting hand of 44 runs but did not get the desired support in the lower order as India were bundled out for 208 runs and lost the game. This was the second time in the series that they failed to win the game after having a solid opening partnership.

Basit Ali has called India’s batting performance bad, saying that the way they batted, they did not look like the rulers of world cricket. He also hit out at Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul, saying that they had come into the series without practice. Speaking in a video posted on his YouTube channel, he explained:

“It was a very poor performance. I am reminded of a film, Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Kabhie. This morning, India reached the semi-finals of hockey at the Olympics. But in cricket, it was exactly the opposite. The kind of Indian batting that was on display did not seem to be the kind of batting that dominates the world.

“I also think Iyer and Rahul did not practice. They came into the series without practising. There are big question marks. The first wicket fell on 97 as well, Rohit got out while hitting backhand. Is Rohit the only batsman in the Indian team? There is no other batsman.”

I feel India has forgotten how to play spinners – Basit Ali

Basit Ali was of the view that Indian batsmen are focusing more on T20s and hence are not performing well in ODIs. He also criticised Gautam Gambhir for using the left-right combination, saying that he could have sent Axar Patel at No. 4. He added:

“Gill got out for 30-35 runs. Who will take responsibility? Will only the names of Rohit and Virat be heard? What are the other players doing? Today, you can see that Axar played well. The way he played, he played accordingly. I feel India has forgotten to play with bowlers like Pakistan. Maybe they are focusing more on T20. Or they have won the T20 tournament.

“Shivam Dube doesn’t even read the bowlers’ hands. Gautam is using this combination wrongly, the left-right combination. If he wanted to use it, he could have sent Axar Patel in to bat. He could have put Rishabh Pant in to play. Instead of Dube, he could have put two wicketkeepers,” he concluded.