“Stop thinking about the IPL and think about the country”

Former Pakistani Danish player Kaneria has advised the Indian team players to turn away from the Indian Premier League (IPL) and focus more on playing for the country. According to Kaneria, unless the Men in Blue sort out their priorities, poor results such as the ODI series defeat in Bangladesh will continue.

The Indian team trailed Bangladesh by five points in the second ODI in Dhaka on Wednesday, December 7. Chasing 272, they were held at 266/9 despite half-centuries of Shreyas Iyer (82), Axar Patel (56) and skipper Rohit Sharma (51*).

The Men in Blue had previously lost the opener by a wicket, conceding the three-game series with one game to spare.

Sharing his thoughts on Team India’s disappointing performance in Bangladesh, Kaneria said on his YouTube channel:

“Stop thinking about the IPL and think about the country. Indian cricket is the biggest, not franchise cricket. There is money in franchise cricket, but you can also make money from international cricket. Unless and until you start giving importance to international cricket, these kinds of results will continue.

IndiaWednesday’s loss to Bangladesh was their second consecutive defeat in the ODI series in the country. They lost 1-2 on their previous visit in 2015 as well as under MS Dhoni.

“Due to countless changes, this Indian team has disintegrated” – Dane Kaneria

Dissecting Team India’s woes of late, Kaneria blamed management for the constant changes, which have fragmented the team. He explained:

“Due to countless changes, this Indian team fell apart. Players who were fit were rested. Those who were not fit continued to play. This team is broken or rather was broken and that too very bad.

“Hitters are unsure of their stance as they have been asked to hit various positions over the past few months. The bowling offense kept changing. There was no proper planning or execution. I don’t even think there is a plan in place. Indian cricket has gone down and Bangladesh also has a very good chance of winning the Test matches.

The third ODI between India and Bangladesh will be played at Chattogram on Saturday December 10th. It will be followed by a series of two tests.