Staring at an early exit from the Asia Cup 2022, the Indian team is facing some flak for a below-par show and former Pakistan captain Inzamam ul Haq reckons skipper Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli appeared tense during their 6-wicket loss to Sri Lanka and said their reactions affect the whole team.
The absence of an indisposed Avesh Khan and Ravindra Jadeja, who underwent a knee surgery, meant that India competed with only two frontline seamers -- Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Arshdeep Singh -- with Hardik Pandya being the third fast-medium option.
Stingless bowling attack
Lack of enough sting in its bowling attack meant that the team suffered back-to-back Super 4 defeats against Pakistan and Sri Lanka, failing to defend par-scores of 181 and 173 respectively.
And the two defeats after a winning start for Team India have compounded Rohit's problems. On the other hand, Kohli, who is going through a lean patch, has his own demons to conquer.
Inzamam felt with both senior players feeling the pressure, it is sending a wrong message to the team.
Absolute surprising
“I am surprised to see Virat Kohli bat. A player of his caliber looked under tremendous pressure after playing four dot balls. When senior players look tensed, especially Rohit Sharma’s reaction when KL Rahul got out, it sends a message to the dressing room that we are under intense pressure," Inzamam noted in a video shared on his YouTube channel. “It brings added pressure on the junior players,” he further said.
