+ Follow us On Google

India played three fast bowlers – Mohammed Siraj, Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh; two spin-bowling all-rounders – Axar Patel and Washington Sundar; and one medium-pace bowling all-rounder – Nitish Kumar Reddy – in the first ODI against Australia on Sunday (October 19) in Perth. But the six bowlers could only manage to take three wickets, and India failed to defend the DLS-revised target of 131 runs to go down by 7 wickets at Optus Stadium in Perth.

The flop show by Indian bowlers invited sharp criticism from former India middle-order batter Mohammad Kaif, who also criticised captain Shubman Gill for compromising with quality over quantity.

Kaif, who led India to the U-19 World Cup title win in 2000 and then played in the 2003 ODI World Cup as well, failed to und

See Full Page