Former cricketers slam India's humiliating series loss

New Delhi, Aug 13 (PTI) India's humiliating series loss
and surrendering of world number one Test spot to England came
under severe criticism from former cricketers who said the
country needs introspection on how to avert the "demise of the
side".
Former captain Sourav Ganguly said that losing three
successive Tests was unthinkable and India will have to ensure
that it was just a one-off affair.
"You can lose Test matches but losing three in a row and
not scoring any big total, it is something to be worried
about. Is it a one-off affair or the beginning of the
demise of the side we have to see," said Ganguly.
Another former captain Anil Kumble said that India now
need to groom four or five young players to replace veterans
like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and V V Laxman.
"You need to spot four-five players and invest on them,
to ensure that they carry the responsibility of Indian cricket
in future in place of the veterans. We have Virat Kohli, Rohit
Sharma, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Gautam Gambhir," Kumble
said.
"They have to be given a long rope. You may not see
India to come back at the top in quick time. But we have to
ensure that with these youngsters, we remained in top three
and climb to top spot after a few years," he said.
Former India Test opener Arun Lal was scathing in his
attack on Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men and said that the
country cannot rely on the 35-plus cricketers for long.
"England are decidedly far better side in the series,
there is no doubt about it. It did not matter if India had
some of the top cricketers in the world but under the
conditions England were way way ahead," Lal said.