India Highly Overrated in Tests, Players Don’t Live Up to Potential: Srikkanth

Former Indian cricketer Krishnamachari Srikkanth has not held back in his criticism of the Indian cricket team, describing them as overhyped in Test cricket. This follows India's recent loss by an innings and 32 runs in the first Test match against South Africa at Centurion. Srikkanth didn't mince his words, pointing out several players in the Indian Test team who, he believes, were lauded more than they should be and underperformed, while talents such as Kuldeep Yadav have been overlooked.

"In T20 cricket India are seen highly overrated. Despite being a strong team in ODI cricket, luck plays a role in the semifinals or finals,” Srikkanth expressed on his YouTube account. "I echo Rohit Sharma's view that winning the 50-over World Cup is a great feat for a cricketer. We sometimes fail in the knockout games, but we are always top notch in ODI. No matter where we play – at home, in Australia or South Africa – we are always on top," he continued.

He spoke fondly of the glory days of Test cricket under Virat Kohli's captaincy when India had shown dominance in England, shown valour in South Africa, and tasted victory in Australia. However, he argues that the team has been content with past triumphs since.

On the issue of ICC rankings, Srikkanth expressed that India needs disregard them. He felt that both overrated players and players not performing to their abilities had hampered India's improvement. He highlighted Kuldeep Yadav as a prime example of a meritorious player being ignored.

Rejecting India captain Rohit Sharma's remarks about the team's previous successes abroad, Srikkanth stressed the need to forget past glories and concentrate on recent performances. He reminded the Indian team that previous wins in Australia and England were not enough, urging them to reflect on and assess their performance in the last two years.