For the sake of Indian cricket and to not put more embarrassment as risk as India did in Dhaka in the second Test against Bangladesh, the BCCI must “take some tough decisions” regarding the players and the coaching staff, plead veteran journalist Vijay Lokapally.
India may have escaped a big scare – a humiliation of the highest order – against Bangladesh in Dhaka courtesy of a gritty, calculated 8th-wicket partnership of 71* (105) between Shreyas Iyer and Ravichandran Ashwin, but, this win doesn’t and shouldn’t paper over the cracks that are in Team India, both among the players and the management.
India escape a mighty upset from Bangladesh
India had been found reeling at 74/7 in the chase of 145. R Ashwin got a life when he was on 1 run as Mominul Haque dropped a catch at short leg. Had Haque taken the catch, who knows Bangladesh could have registered their first-ever Test match win over India.
It wasn’t today. But as India host Sri Lanka in white-ball matches, followed by the more important Border-Gavaskar Trophy – 4 Tests vs Australia, all of whom are crucial not just to keep India’s home legacy intact, but also for the World Test Championship final regards – Vijay Lokapally insisted that the board, and whoever is part of the new selection committee, will take the difficult, bold calls when it comes to dropping some big-name players, and even making sackings in the leadership group and the coaching staff.
“Whatever be the result at Dhaka the @BCCI & the new Selection Committee must take some tough decisions. Or else prepare to lose to Sri Lanka and Australia at home. Wonder how the fans are going to react to this team’s tall claims for a year now..Embarrassed,” the senior, respected journalist Vijay Lokapally tweeted.
Whatever be the result at Dhaka the @BCCI & the new Selection Committee must take some tough decisions. Or else prepare to lose to Sri Lanka and Australia at home. Wonder how the fans are going to react to this team’s tall claims for a year now..Embarrassed.#IndiaBangladeshTest
— Vijay Lokapally 🇮🇳 (@vijaylokapally) December 25, 2022
KL Rahul, the captain for this Test series, could even face the axe and might be dropped from the Australia Test series after his recent poor scores. Dravid’s position as head coach is also under huge scrutiny.
Ashwin was awarded the Man of the Match award for his all-rounder, while Cheteshwar Pujara bagged the Player of the Series award for finishing as the leading run-scorer in the series, although many argued that Shreyas Iyer should have been given this award for all his three knocks in the series came at difficult times.
