“Absolute disgrace”: The former all-rounder is not shy about his words, slams the bowlers of the Indian national team after the defeat by the WTC
The ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final between India and New Zealand ended at the end of the reserve day when the Black Caps, led by Kane Williamson, won the competition by 8 wickets to become the first team to claim the first WTC title.
Asked to bat first, India were 146-3 at stumps on Day 2 before they surrendered the momentum to fold for a below-par 217. In response, NZ started off really well to end day’s proceedings at 101-2 as Indian pacers couldn’t get that much swing from the dukes ball, whereas Jasprit Bumrah hit the deck hard but mostly resorted to limited-overs line and lengths.
Though Mohammed Shami’s 4-for reduced Kiwis to 249, still giving them a handy 32-run lead, India managed to give a paltry 139-run target to lose the clash convincingly in the end. In the fourth innings, Indian pacers were expected to bowl the similar line and lengths which reaped rewards for the Kiwis in the previous innings, however, only R Ashwin returned with two wickets. None from the pace battery opened their account in the wicket-taking column.
Hence, former India all-rounder and a member of the 1983 World Cup-winning squad, Roger Binny slammed Team India bowlers after the WTC finale defeat.
“Watching the Indians bowl on Sunday (the third day of the Test), it was not the way to bowl in a Test in England. It was an absolute disgrace. What did the opposition do to you? What sort of a performance was this? They are playing a Test match,” Binny was quoted as saying by News18.
“When you bowl, you bowl in the batsman’s half. You don’t bowl in your half. They have to play the shots. The shorter you bowl, the more the ball seams. You have to attack to take wickets, not bowl defensively,” he added.
With another defeat in an ICC event, India once again lost out on winning a major event since 2013. The 2013 Champions Trophy remains the last ICC title won by Team India. Since then, they have reached the finale of three major events (2014 T20 World Cup, 2017 Champions Trophy, WTC final) but lost all.
Virat Kohli-led India will stay put in the United Kingdom following the WTC final loss, to play five Tests against Joe Root-led England from August-September.
