‘We were outstanding when Virat Kohli was the captain of the team’: Former Captain lambasts Team India

India's Test squad has been questioned by former captain, who believes Team India is  'over-rated' in the longest format

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Kris Srikkanth, the Indian cricket team’s former captain, delivered a critical assessment, labelling the team’s Test unit as overrated. India, the top Test cricket team, has been unbeatable while playing at home, but its international performance has been average. Since Virat Kohli stepped down as captain, India has lost against England in a series, in South Africa, and in the World Test Championship final earlier this year. In contrast, under Kohli’s leadership, India won in Australia and defeated England by a lead of  2-1 in 2021.

Based on his judgement following India’s utter defeat in the first Test match in Centurion last week, Srikkanth believes that the team’s inability to perform well in Tests is due to the presence of too many “overrated” cricket players who haven’t lived up to their potential. Shubman Gill has given mixed results, and Shreyas Iyer has only had success on pitches in the subcontinent thus far.

“Test cricket, we are overrated. I think it was a phase of 2-3 years where we were outstanding when Virat Kohli was the captain of the team. We dominated in England, we fought hard in South Africa, we won in Australia,” Srikkanth said on his YouTube channel. “We have to forget the ICC rankings. We are always 1-2, 1-2. It’s a combination of having overrated cricketers and people who have not performed up to their potential. Or there are players who do not have enough chances, like Kuldeep (Yadav).”

Team India highly overrated in T20 Cricket- says Srikkanth

Although Srikkanth is dissatisfied with India’s performance in the Tests, he is optimistic about the country’s one-day squad. India proved they were a strong side in one-day internationals (ODIs) during the World Cup, winning ten straight games until losing to Australia in the last round. In the ODIs that followed, they even triumphed over South Africa, further solidifying Srikanth’s position. That being said, Srikkanth is adamant that India performs poorly in Twenty20 Internationals, just as they do in Tests.

“In T20 cricket India are highly overrated. ODI cricket, we are a fantastic team. What happens in ODIs, in the semi-finals, finals, it’s just a one-off match. It’s a luck factor, a lot depends on luck in these matches. I read Rohit Sharma’s statement, for a cricketer; the 50-over World Cup is a huge achievement. We are sometimes underperforming in the knockout matches, in the semifinals and the final. But we are a gun side in ODIs. Regardless of where we play, be it India, Australia or South Africa, we are a gun side,” Srikkanth added.

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