Thaindian News

Birmingham, Aug 13 (IANS) Former India cricket captain Sourav Ganguly has said the World No.1 Test side have looked pretty ordinary against England in the ongoing four-match series.

India suffered a 196-run loss at Lord’s and crashed to a 319-run defeat in the second Test at Trent Bridge. The visitors are now staring at their third consecutive loss in Edgbaston and are likely to lose their No.1 status to England.

“I agree (with the criticism), and let us accept we were very ordinary. The worst day was Thursday (second day of the match where India could take only three wickets for 372 runs from 90 overs). I have not seen an Indian team like this in the last 10 years,” Ganguly told BBC’s Test Match Special.

Ganguly said India suffered due to lack of preparation.

“You cannot just turn up and win Test series against good sides,” said Ganguly. “I’ve felt that when we guys from the subcontinent went to England, Australia or South Africa, we needed two warm-up games (India had just the one practice match before this series). And look at England in Australia a few months ago: they had three proper warm-up games and had other guys out there as well on standby.”

Ganguly feels that the England series won’t be the last of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and V.V.S. Laxman.

“We have a tour of Australia this winter and really need to take the likes of Dravid, Tendulkar and Laxman there. This is the first series we have done poorly, home or away, for the last seven or eight years. It is just one of those series that haven’t gone well for India,” he said.

Ganguly was disappointing that Tendulkar looked ordinary in the series.

“But, yes, it is disappointing because I can tell you that, as Indians, we really look forward to this tour. People like Dravid and Tendulkar take a lot of pride in performing over here.

“Test cricket matters to us. Indian people still want their team to be No.1 in Test cricket. The World Cup is special for any country. But Test cricket is the format of the game,” he said.