IND vs SA: Former Indian cricketer raises questions against Team India's coaching staff

The Indian team has been suffering from severe criticism following the defeat against South Africa in the first test match at Kolkata. At one point, it appeared that India would win the game with ease, and supporters were speculating about the margin of victory. However, the Indian team ultimately suffered a crushing defeat. The Indian team didn’t chase a 124-run target in the second innings and was bowled out on just 93 runs. 

Following the defeat, many former cricketers and cricket experts criticised the team’s performance. Now, former Indian cricketer Balwinder Singh Sandhu also lashes out at Team India’s performance. He questioned the Indian team’s strategy and also criticised the support staff. He wrote in his column for Mid-day after the Indian team's defeat against South Africa.

"India's overall strategy was weak. On a pitch like that, one end needs to be tied down by a defensive bowler, and the other must attack in short, sharp bursts - Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Jadeja. That's how you build pressure. About our support staff - well, Morne Morkel can't teach Indian spinners anything new. And the less said about the batting coach, the better. The BCCI must take responsibility for appointing support staff who seem more interested in keeping their positions safe than actually contributing.”

Furthermore, Sandu also supported Sourav Ganguly’s opinion on veteran pacer Mohammed Shami. Ganguly desired for Shami’s comeback in the national team. He said that Mohammed Shami continuously proved his fitness in the Ranji Trophy. He already took 20 wickets in just 4 matches playing for Bengal. 

"To Gautam Gambhir's credit, he accepted responsibility for the turner instead of blaming the pitch - politically correct, maybe not fully accurate. CAB President Sourav Ganguly acted quickly to shield the pitch from criticism and also highlighted Mohammed Shami's case. And I fully agree. Shami deserves a proper farewell, and he has proved his fitness through domestic cricket," he added.

Sandu didn’t stop here and also raised some questions on India’s coaching staff. He said a coach should know the team's strengths and weaknesses, and he didn’t think the current Indian coaching staff was aware of them. He also mentioned that Rohit and Virat were removed from the team too quickly. 

He also mentioned the defeat in the Kolkata test. He said that playing with four spinners is a blunder. He criticised the Indian batters for their lack of game understanding and situation awareness.  

"New Zealand thrashed us in our own backyard not long ago. Yet we repeat the same errors. It clearly shows a poor understanding of our current players' abilities. For a head coach and batting coach, that's unacceptable. Being a coach myself, I feel any coach who has been around for years should know his team's strengths, weaknesses, and mindset inside out. We still don't know who is ready to step into the shoes of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, who, I feel, were moved out too quickly. Youngsters should be groomed around seniors, not at the cost of them," Sandhu wrote further.

“Then came the biggest blunder - playing four spinners when the opposition had only two. It showed complete confusion about who the main attacking spinner actually was. And ironically, pacers from both sides took the crucial wickets. Even the batting order showed a lack of game understanding," he concluded.”