Lack of preparation is hurting Team India, says Allan Lamb
Allan Lamb has criticised the Indian cricket team’s lack of preparation ahead of the Test series in England, which he feels cost India the first two matches. Lamb has also added that the Indian batsmen are getting their basics wrong in an attempt to play swinging deliveries in English conditions.
The Indian batsmen's glaring weakness against quality swing bowling came out wide open and the absence of feet movement was glaringly visible. The likes of Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, and Ajinkya Rahane couldn't even make a good contribution to the team's cause, putting too much pressure on Virat Kohli. While moving ball has always been a problem for Indian batsmen over the years, the lack of proper preparation was the main reason behind the debacle. And after India's terrible performance, Lamb stressed on the need for proper preparation to acclimatize with the conditions of a place where the team is visiting.
In an interview to the Times of India, Lamb said, “ It's just a case of poor preparation. England
The only four-day practice game for the Indians before the Test series was reduced to a three-day warm-up game after the T20I and ODI series got over as Indians wanted to practice by themselves. While the heatwave at Chelmsford was given as the reason for the one-day reduction, it was certainly not something that pleased Lamb.
“I don't know why they curtailed the practice game. And make no mistake, ODIs and Test matches don't work together. The ball, the field setting - everything is different. When you play a Test, you need to spend time at the crease which is not the case in the shorter formats. These things happen with practice,” the former English skipper said.
After losing the second Test, India decided to take a three-day off and didn't practice before hitting the nets again. Speaking about the same, Lamb said that net practice is not something that will solve the problem. Playing against county sides and practice in the middle would make the difference.
Talking about the technique and basics of playing the swinging balls, Lamb said, “It's important that you play under your nose and most of the Indian players are not doing that.”