While in London, former Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara challenged the idea that India depends too heavily on Virat Kohli. Instead of blaming a lack of talent, he pointed toward poor preparation as the real reason for India's struggles in the first two Tests against England. Although England secured victories at Birmingham and Lord's, the narrative centered on the fact that Kohli was the only one consistently scoring. Sangakkara noted that it's almost unfair to criticize the rest of the lineup, given that Kohli has been playing at an otherworldly level for years, though he insisted the other players are equally fantastic.London: Former Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara believes it is wrong to say that Indian cricket team is more dependent on Captain Virat Kohli. He blamed the lack of preparation for the team’s poor performance in the first two test matches in England. England won the first two matches played in Birmingham and Lords in the five-Test series, but the big problem for the Indian team is that only Kohli has been able to score runs. Sangakkara said, “It is almost unfair for other batsmen because we have seen Virat bat like this for the last few years. It’s incredible and it’s an incredible player, but the other players of the team are also fantastic. ”
He highlighted the quality of the squad, mentioning that Pujara and Rahane both maintain impressive averages around 50, with Rahane performing strongly abroad. He also pointed to the current form of Lokesh and Rahul, while noting that Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, and Dinesh Karthik are far from lacking in skill. According to Sangakkara, the real issue was that India played only one practice match before the series, which was cut short after three days. He believes this lack of preparation left the team vulnerable, stating that you can't simply 'figure it out' during a Test match. To succeed, players need to build confidence by analyzing English bowling patterns during training. He concluded that England's bowlers effectively exploited the technical weaknesses often found in players from the subcontinent.
