Team India faced a humiliating 10-wicket loss in the semi-final of the T20 World Cup against England on Thursday. The opening duo of Jos Buttler (80*) and Alex Hales (86*) forged a record unbeaten 170-run stand to take England to a crushing victory over the men in blue, as the side booked a final showdown with Pakistan on Sunday. Unsurprisingly, the Indian team is facing significant criticism back home, where former cricketers are speaking strongly against the side’s selection decisions and ‘workload management’.

Former India player Kirti Azad, who was part of India’s 1983 World Cup-winning squad, also spoke in detail about the disappointing end of the side’s campaign in the T20 WC. Azad stated that multiple captains leads to confusion, and also spoke about Virat Kohli in particular.

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“Main iss cheez se disagree nahi karta ki alag alag format ke kaptaan nahi ho sakte. Par itne saare ho jaayenge toh khichdi ban jaayegi. Samajh nahi aayega ki kaptaan kaun hai. Ye uchit nahi hai (I’m not saying that different formats can’t have different captains. But if you have so many captains, it leads to confusion. This is not right),” Azad said on Aaj Tak.

When the anchor on the debate asks whether the Indian team is overage, the former Indian cricketer gave an example of Virat Kohli.

“Doosri baat aapne umar ki ki. Agar Virat Kohli se ye jitne log khel rahe hain, sabki physical fitness karwa de toh sabse fit vo hi niklega. (You say about the age. If you ask all of these players to have a fitness test against Kohli, he would win),” said Azad, seemingly stating that fitness should be prioritized over age-related debates in the Indian team.

Team India will return to action next week when the side takes on New Zealand in a three-match T20I series.

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