Although India beat Hong Kong by 40 runs, their top order remained a concern going into the Super Four stage. Earlier India became the second team to qualify for the Super Fours after beating Hong Kong. Nonetheless, the top order was slow with skipper Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul both failing to hit the big shots on a consistent basis. As a result, India were just 70 runs at the halfway mark against a weak side like Hong Kong. In the end, it was Suryakumar Yadav who had to play a blinder of a knock to seal the deal for India.
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Moreover, this ordinary performance was visible to every other fan and former cricketers who criticized the way India were batting. After Wasim Jaffer called out Kohli for his slow innings, former India cricketer Dodda Ganesha also came out and slammed the top three for ‘lackadaisical performance.’
“I am still worried about his fluency. His fluency is still not there. You know what we have seen before. I don’t think we are seeing that fluency yet, even though he got runs,” Jaffer told ESPNcricinfo.
“Anybody who is not batting at a 140 or 150 strike rate with Virat Kohli then I think India is in trouble,” said Jaffer.
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“You’ve got to have somebody who is striking far more, you know at a much higher strike rate than Virat Kohli. If Suryakumar Yadav didn’t happen (against Hong Kong), India would have ended with 150 or 160 and that would have been a dangerous score,” he added.
Meanwhile, Dodda Ganesha was less descriptive but blunt in his analysis.
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“Can’t expect SKY and the other middle-order batsmen to bail you out every time for the top three’s lackadaisical approach. High time the elephant in the room is addressed. This simply can’t continue,” he wrote on Twitter.
Can’t expect SKY and the other middle order batsmen to bail you out every time for the top three’s lackadaisical approach. High time the elephant in the room is addressed. This simply can’t continue #DoddaMathu #CricketTwitter #AsiaCup
— ದೊಡ್ಡ ಗಣೇಶ್ | Dodda Ganesh (@doddaganesha) September 1, 2022
Earlier iconic cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle also slammed KL Rahul for his slow batting, saying that he might be dropped if he plays like this in the upcoming Asia Cup 2022 games.
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