In reality, India also didn't have a full strength, says Laxman Sivaramakrishnan
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Laxman Sivaramakrishnan has stated that according to him the Indian squad did not have the complete strength to pose a challenge to England as they were missing some key players. He said that the absence of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Wriddhiman Saha probably shifted the favour in England's side.
Throughout the series so far, Indian skipper Virat Kohli had been the only batsman who was performing constantly for the national side. Ultimately, India lost the three Tests out of four at Edgbaston, Lord's and Southampton, conceding to England a lead of 3-1.
The loss has been attributed to various factors as the reason behind India's failure to establish their grounds in English conditions. Former Indian bowler, Laxman Sivaramakrishnan believes that the absence of key players and all-rounders had been one of the factors, contributing to India's doom.
“In reality, India also didn't have a full strength and let us not be so dismissive about them. Instead of Hardik Pandya, the team management could have used Bhuvneshwar Kumar and he would have been a big boost for the team. Indian really missed him. The team also missed the services of Saha," Sivaramakrishnan told TOI.
“Bhuvneshwar could have taken more wickets than Pandya and scored some runs. Similarly, Saha would not have given so many byes and would have certainly scored more in the series. Their presence wouldn't have hurt India so much," he said.
As the opening batsmen of the Indian squad failed to stay on the crease for a long time, Sivaramakrishnan felt that it pressurized the middle-order batsmen, who in turn could not play freely under the stress. He also mentioned that India could have continued playing with Murali Vijay as a member of the Indian Test squad.
“The Indian openers should have batted at least for 20 to 30 overs with a minimum score of 75 runs. It would have taken a lot of pressure of the middle-order. The likes of Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane would have played much freely thereafter. But that didn't happen. Kohli was left alone to do all the scoring in the middle-order," he said.
“In challenging conditions, it's an away experience over youth. Prithvi Shaw is inducted into the team too early. India should have continued with Vijay because of his experience. They could have tried Shaw at home," Sivaramakrishnan added.
