‘India needs to improve their skillset’ – Former India seamer Venkatesh Prasad’s take on India after their disappointing performance in T20Is against West Indies

Former India pacer, Venkatesh Prasad lashed out at the Indian Cricket Team after they lost the five-match T20I series against West Indies 3-2. He opined that the Caribbean side was not able to qualify for the Men’s T20 World Cup last year in Australia, and this time around, they failed to qualify for the ODI World Cup 2023, so losing to them is a big concern for the management.

Prasad is known for bashing the Men in Blue performance in the past. He took to X (formerly Twitter) to criticize the Indian team for their poor performance in the recently concluded T20I series. He asserted that team India has been a very ‘ordinary side’ in the last year or so. He also stated that it’s time to pinpoint the players as the team should not suffer because of them. He went on to say that the Indian Cricket Team didn’t show any intent to win the T20I series.

India needs to improve their skillset: Venkatesh Prasad

“India has been a very very ordinary limited-overs side for some time now. They have been humbled by a West Indies side that failed to qualify for the T20 WC few months back. We had also lost to Ban in the ODI series. Hope they introspect instead of making silly statements #IndvWI. Not just 50 overs, West Indies had failed to qualify for the T20 World Cup last Oct- Nov as well. It pains to see India perform poorly and brush it under the carpet, under the garb of the process. That hunger, fire is missing and we live in an illusion,” Prasad tweeted. 

An X user asked for his thoughts on T20I skipper, Hardik Pandya and team coach, Rahul Dravid. To which the former pacer replied by saying, “They are responsible for the debacle and need to be accountable. Process and such words are misused now. MS meant it, guys now just use the word. There is no consistency in selection, random stuff happening too much.”

“India needs to improve their skillset. There is a hunger & intensity deficiency & often the captain looked clueless. Bowler’s can’t bat, batsmen can’t bowl. It’s important to not look for yes men and be blinded because someone is your favourite player but look at the larger good,” the 54-year-old added.