Venkatesh Prasad slams Team India for continuous failures in white-ball cricket, claims “we are far from how champion sides are”

Team India lost to the West Indies in the second ODI and Venkatesh Prasad did not like it one bit.

Venkatesh Prasad slams Team India (Image via Twitter)

Former India pacer Venkatesh Prasad is not one bit pleased with Team India’s defeat in the second ODI against the West Indies. As the Men in Blue, in the absence of their two stalwarts- Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, lost the second ODI by four wickets, Prasad launched a scathing attack on Team India and BCCI.

Prasad pointed out how the Men in Blue have been nothing more than mediocre in white-ball tournaments in the recent past. The former India pacer also criticized the Indian cricket board and claimed that India are far from champion sides like Australia and England.

“Test cricket aside, India has been very ordinary in the other two formats for quite sometime now. Lost odi series against ban, SA and Aus. Poor in the last two T20 World Cups. Neither are we an exciting team like England nor brutal like how the Aussies used to be,” tweeted Prasad on Sunday.

“Despite the money and power, we have become used to celebrating mediocrity and are far from how champion sides are. Every team plays to win and so does India but their approach and attitude is also a factor for underperformance over a period of time,” he added.

Despite the money and power, we have become used to celebrating mediocrity and are far from how champion sides are. Every team plays to win and so does India but their approach and attitude is also a factor for underperformance over a period of time.
— Venkatesh Prasad (@venkateshprasad) July 30, 2023

Also Read: “This man should be sacked immediately”- Twitter blasts Rahul Dravid for EXPERIMENTING just two months before ODI World Cup

How did fans react to this massive claim from Venkatesh Prasad?

rohit sharma ind vs wi 1st odi — Rohit Sharma shakes hands after winning 1st ODI (Image via TOI Twitter)

This tweet from Venkatesh Prasad caused a stir among the fans who came up with their own set of opinions. While some agreed with Prasad, some felt it was not completely right to brutally criticize the team. A couple of fans pointed out how Indian players not playing in overseas leagues is affecting their awareness about foreign conditions.

Not allowing IndA players to play in Global leagues is the worst thing; look how Pakis and Afghans are improving their game. Our next generation or possible replacements should be allowed to play in international T10, T20 .. Keeping them in Kaal Kothti won't benefit.
— Harshit Goyal (@OffersOnWeb) July 30, 2023

Absolutely true. @BCCI is directionless body & there is no bench strength either in batting or bowling. Rahul Dravid has been a failure as Coach. Rohit Sharma can't be a world cup winning captain. The team has lost reputation thanks to IPL.
— Sujitt Kulkarni ?? (@sujit2809) July 30, 2023

Please control yourself @venkateshprasad – yes, the defeat was painful and I agree with that. However, let us not bring down the moral of our players at this critical juncture and the upcoming series/WC.
You have been a fab bowler and had your ups & downs as well.
— Sachin Pandit (@sachin_0206) July 30, 2023

It was the right decision to rest Rohit & Virat. West Indies is not playing their best cricket at the moment and it was right to test the bench strength and it was one bad day for Team India and i don't agree with you Mr Prasad.
— Bhaskar Laxman Pawar (@BhaskarLaxmanP1) July 30, 2023

We made IPL like that school
जहां ज़रूरत मंद बच्चे ( read other countries ) तो आके सीख जाते हैं मगर ट्रस्टी ( Read India ) के बच्चे पीछे रह जाते हैं
— Abhishek Pandey ??#RB (@AbhishekPandeyK) July 30, 2023

Problem is how we do in other conditions. All other top players participate in IPL and so they get to know how to play in Indian conditions. But not many Indian players go out and play on county cricket or Australian local circuit. It takes time to gain such knowledge and…
— Venkatesh Elayavalli ?? ?? (@elayavalli) July 30, 2023

If reaching finals and semifinals consistently is mediocrity, then I guess we're winning every tournament in the 90s and 2000s https://t.co/HyMCao3JWz
— Sasmit (@Sasiizm) July 31, 2023

While Venkatesh Prasad might have tweeted this out of frustration (after seeing India lose to West Indies who have not even qualified for the World Cup) and many might be agreeing with him, the claims are not right outright. India have made it to the knockouts in almost every ICC event they have participated in except for the 2021 T20 World Cup. So, calling them absolute failure is not true by any means.