Azharuddin: India unlucky not to win Test series in SA
Published : Jan 30, 2018 16:48 IST
Former India captain Mohammad Azharuddin said with a little bit of luck India would have managed to accomplish the historic feat of beating South Africa in its backyard in the recently-concluded Test series. Azharuddin patted on the back of the Indian bowlers who captured 60 wickets in three Tests. “Our bowlers have won the last Test match. They really put the South African batsmen under pressure. We were a bit unlucky that we could not get the series our way,” said Azharuddin during an interaction at the annual sports day of DPS North Kolkata here on Tuesday.
Read: Mohammed Shami leads India to consolation win Asked whether it was wise of Virat Kohli to leave out Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ajinkya Rahane, who made crucial contributions in the victory in the third Test, in the second match, Azharuddin said, “They could have played. But the captain thinks in a different way...Everybody in India felt they should have played. “I think he (Virat) has done well. His record is good and it speaks for itself.”
'Good side' Azharuddin hoped that India would perform better in the one-day series. “We have a good side and we should be able to beat them. In the one-dayers, hopefully our batting will click.” Azharuddin advised cricket lovers not compare all-rounder Hardik Pandya with the legendary Kapil Dev. “There can never be another Kapil Dev. It's very difficult to get another Kapil Dev as not many people can do the amount of workload he used to do over a period of time.” Azharuddin said he would pursue his goal of being an administrator with the Hyderabad Cricket Association and would meet BCCI Committee of Administrators (CoA) head Vinod Rai regarding this.