“It’s going towards decline” – Danish Kaneria on Indian cricket

Former Pakistan cricketer Danish Kaneria feels that the Indian cricket team is on a decline. He questioned their brand of cricket after Rohit Sharma and Co. were bundled out for 186 in 41.2 overs in the first ODI against Bangladesh on Sunday (December 4).

It's worth mentioning that the Men in Blue lost the opening game by one wicket. Mehidy Hasan and Mustafizur Rahman shared an unbeaten fifty partnership for the tenth wicket to help Bangladesh snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Kaneria said:

“Same goes for the Indian cricket team. It’s going towards decline because of the way they are playing cricket. Mehidy Hasan came and scored runs for the last wicket. He taught them that you speak about big things but fail to deliver while playing. They wasted ten overs in batting.”

He felt that India should have provided an opportunity to wicketkeeper batter Sanju Samson in the three-match ODI series after Rishabh Pant was released from the squad in consultation with the BCCI’s medical staff.

He added:

“You want to play Rishabh Pant and don’t want to bring in Sanju Samson. You’ll only play him in one or two matches to shut the mouths of critics.”

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“Will you drop him as well?” – Danish Kaneria on Azhar Ali

Kaneria, meanwhile, vented his anger at Fawad Alam’s absence in the Pakistan Test squad despite scoring loads of runs in the ongoing domestic season. He questioned Pakistan's team management if they would treat Azhar Ali similarly after he departed for 27 and 40 in two innings of the Rawalpindi Test.

“The same situation is going on both sides. They did zyadti (excessiveness) towards Fawad Alam, but he scored runs in domestic cricket. Azhar failed to score runs. Will you drop him as well?”

For the uninitiated, Alam has amassed 706 runs in 10 matches at an average of 64.18, hitting two centuries and five fifties in the recently concluded Quaid-e-Azam trophy.

Last month, PCB chief selector Muhammad Wasim revealed why Alam didn't find a spot in the Pakistan squad in the three-match Test series against England.

Speaking to the media, Wasim was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan:

“He could not perform well in the previous three series.”

The left-hander failed to deliver in four Tests this year, scoring 58 runs in six innings.

Meanwhile, Ali has only managed a half-century for Pakistan in the last eight innings since he scored 185 against Australia in March 2022.