New Delhi [India], November 27 : Former spinner Ravichandran Ashwin criticised the Indian team's lack of fight and intent in their 2-0 Test series loss to South Africa. Ashwin pointed out Sai Sudharsan and stressed that players need to work on their technical and tactical skills.
Sudharsan played a marathon innings of 14 off 139 balls against South Africa in the fourth innings of the second Test in Guwahati. Sudharsan's innings in the fourth innings of the second Test produced only a boundary, with a strike rate of 10.07. Senuran Muthusamy removed Sudharsan.
His innings marks the second-slowest Test knock for India, featuring a minimum of 100 balls, only behind Yashpal Sharma's 13 off 157 against Australia in 1981.
"It usually happens that when something goes wrong, there is always a scapegoat. But I don't consider it a healthy team environment; it's not a healthy facet. For instance, if I know there are questions about my place, I will want to fight to prove it. I felt let down in the sense that there was no fight. If a player is insecure, he cannot play well. When Senuran Muthusamy came on to bowl, Sai Sudharsan didn't put away any of the full tosses or short balls for boundaries. He played inside the line and got caught at first slip. There was zero intent in defence. It's either technical or tactical," Ashwin said on his YouTube channel Ash ki Baat.
Sudharsan didn't feature in the first Test in Kolkata against South Africa. In the second Test across both innings, Sudharsan made 29 runs at an average of 14.50 and a strike rate of 16.20.
India's home dominance received yet another big dent, as nearly a year after New Zealand first outspun and stomped the hosts in their own fortress, handing them a series loss after 12 years, South Africa did something very similar. A collective and clinical Proteas group, holding the World Test Championship mace, whitewashed India 0-2 and handed them their second whitewash loss in two back-to-back years.
This is India's second whitewash at home under head coach Gautam Gambhir. Overall, this is the third whitewash for the Asian Giants in the longest format. The big names like Yashasvi Jaiswal (83), KL Rahul (68) and Rishabh Pant (49) had a dismal outing throughout the South Africa Test series.