‘We have become used to celebrating mediocrity’

Aalfter India was outplayed by West Indies in a six wickets victory in the second ODI at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados, former fast-bowler Venkatesh Prasad made a scathing remark over the side’s recent performances, saying that people have become used to celebrating mediocre performances. Batting first in the second ODI, India were bowled out for just 181, after being 90 for no loss at one point, with batting experiments backfiring. West Indies chased down the total comfortably with 80 balls to spare, with skipper Shai Hope remaining unbeaten on 63. “Test cricket aside, India have been very ordinary in the other two formats for quite some time now. Lost ODI series against BAN, SA and Aus. Poor in the last two T20 World Cups. Neither are we an exciting team like England nor brutal like how the Aussies used to be,” wrote Prasad on Twitter. “Despite the money and power, we have become used to celebrating mediocrity and are far from how champion sides are. Every team plays to win and so does India but their approach and attitude is also a factor for underperformance over a period of time,” he added. The West Indies defeat the much-fancied India, minus the rested duo of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, in an ODI for the first time since December 2019 to level the series 1-1 and set up a series decider at Port of Spain on Tuesday. The series is a part of the side’s build-up to the Men’s ODI World Cup, to be held in India from October 5 to November 19, and be in the quest for breaking a drought of a decade with no major tournament victory.