Legendary Indian opener Virender Sehwag has named the Indian batsman who disappointed him the most in the One Day International (ODI) series between Shikhar Dhawan’s Team India and hosts Sri Lanka. Despite missing regular starters and key campaigners, Team India under coach Rahul Dravid and skipper Shikhar Dhawan sealed an impressive series win in Sri Lanka.
After taking an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series, Dravid-coached Team India featured five debutants in the final match of bilateral ODIs. While India handed debut caps to Sanju Samson, Nitish Rana, Chetan Sakariya, K Gowtham, and Rahul Chahar, Indian batsmen Manish Pandey, Suryakumar Yadav, and Hardik Pandya were retained in the playing XI along with skipper Dhawan.
Skipper Dhawan played a captain’s knock in the series while Pandey and Pandya had forgetful outings in all three ODIs against Sri Lanka. Speaking to Cricbuzz about the recently concluded ODI series, Sehwag observed that the 50-over matches were an opportunity for Pandey and Pandya to strengthen their selection cases.
“Both had scored some 15-20 runs so they disappointed me more. In this three-match series, if anyone got the most benefit, it was Pandey. “He played all three matches, and got the chance to bat, and on all the three occasions, the situation wasn’t challenging either that he had to accelerate,” Sehwag said.
Sehwag, who is often regarded as one of the finest openers in Indian cricket picked Pandey as ‘India’s biggest disappointment’ in the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka. “So, I believe Pandey has disappointed me the most. Perhaps he may no longer get a chance in ODIs for India, and even if he does, it is going to be a long time. Since he lost the opportunity to score in these three matches, he’s fallen behind in the pecking order,” Sehwag added.
