'We have become used to celebrating mediocrity': Venkatesh Prasad on Indian team

Former India cricketer Venkatesh Prasad has slammed the Indian team for their below-par show in white ball cricket over the last few years. India and West Indies are level at 1-1 in the ongoing series with a decider on Tuesday to come. In the second ODI, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma were rested with the objective of testing the bench strength.

In the second ODI, India produced a below-par performance and were bowled out for just 181 runs. In reply, West Indies got the job done with 6 wickets to spare.

Kapil Dev: ‘Too much money’ has led to arrogance and overconfidence

The ongoing series acts as an opportunity for the Indian team management to get their options – both main and backups – ready for the Asia Cup and ODI World Cup.

Prasad criticised India’s performance in white ball cricket in recent times. He also compared the current squad with the England side and the dominant Australian team of the 2000s.

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. Cont

— Venkatesh Prasad (@venkateshprasad) July 30, 2023

“Test cricket aside, India has been very ordinary in the other two formats for quite sometime now. Lost odi [ODI] series against ban [Bangladesh], SA [South Africa] and Aus [Australia]. 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,” Prasad tweeted.

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

The veteran seamer further slammed India’s approach as “mediocre” despite all the money and power at their disposal.

“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.

The third and final ODI between India and West Indies will be played on Tuesday and it will be followed by a five-match T20I series.