Former cricketer Krishnamachari Srikkanth referred to India as an “overrated team” and expressed his displeasure with their recent Test results. The 64-year-old remembered the incredible success India experienced abroad during Virat Kohli’s leadership.
Team India will want to start fresh in 2023 after a disappointing year on the cricket field when they play South Africa in the second Test on Wednesday, January 3, at Newlands, Cape Town. The team captained by Rohit Sharma suffered a devastating loss in the first game, falling short in Centurion by an inning and 32 runs. Now, they are trying to win the series. Interestingly, with 118 ratings, India is the top-ranked Test squad. However, after losing the World Test Championship finals back-to-back, they have been unable to defend that.
“Cricket, you overvalue us. I believe there was a two- to three-year period during which we excelled under Virat Kohli’s leadership. We triumphed in Australia, we battled valiantly in South Africa, and we ruled England. We must set the ICC rankings aside. We are one-two-one. It’s a result of both overvalued cricket players and underperformed players together.
Alternatively, certain players—like Kuldeep Yadav —do not get enough opportunities,” Krishnamachari Srikkanth stated on his YouTube channel.
While praising the Indian ODI team and referring to them as a “gun side,” Krishnamachari Srikkanth reiterated the same ideas for the Indian T20I team as well.
“India is tremendously overrated in T20 cricket. We are a terrific squad in ODI cricket. It is simply a one-off match in the semi-finals and finals of the one-day internationals. In these kinds of contests, a lot is dependent on chance. As I read Rohit Sharma’s comment, I realized how amazing the 50-over World Cup is for a cricket player. In the elimination rounds, semifinals, and championship games, we occasionally underperform. But in ODIs, we are on the gun side. We are a formidable team no matter where we play, whether it’s in South Africa, Australia, or India.” Krishnamachari Srikkanth continued.
India will be driven to break their elimination curse in the 2024 T20 World Cup.
Notably, despite making it to the knockout rounds in nine of the previous 10 tournaments, India hasn’t won a major ICC championship since 2014. They had previously lost to New Zealand in the 2021 World T20 Championship, and they fell to Australia in 2023 for the second time in a row. Additionally, the Men in Blue lost to Australia by six wickets in the 2023 ODI World Cup on home soil.
In terms of T20Is, India hasn’t won a World Cup in the shorter format since 2008, despite owning the wealthiest league in the world, the Indian Premier League. They will therefore be driven to break their knockout curse in the future T20 World Cup in the USA and the West Indies in 2024.