Let us not jump the gun - Srinivasan

N Srinivasan, the BCCI secretary, has said the board will review the Indian team's performance in England at the conclusion of the tour but believed the Test series would have been closely contested if not for a spate of injuries.

India have been poor in England, losing the first two Tests by large margins and facing defeat in the ongoing third Test at Edgbaston. They will lose their No. 1 ranking if England win the series by a two-Test margin.

India, however, were hit by injuries to key players - Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Gautam Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh - at various points during the tour. Srinivasan said it was important to take all the issues into consideration before evaluating the team's performance. "You have to put things in perspective," he told the Indian Express. "We missed Zaheer Khan due to injury. Virender Sehwag was unavailable for the first two Tests. Gautam Gambhir had to sit out in the second Test. So we never had a full strength side. With everybody fit, we believe the series would have been a lot closer.

"Of course, we will review the performance of the cricketers after the tour and will do what needs to be done. But at the moment a tour is going on and a one-day series will follow the Tests. So we shouldn't jump the gun."

India captain MS Dhoni has struggled in England. His wicketkeeping has been poor, he's scored only 126 runs in five innings and his captaincy has been criticised as well. Former India captain Ajit Wadekar, however, said Dhoni had been let down.

"He has been let down by poor planning, scheduling, injuries and selection issues," Wadekar told the Times of India. "This team is emotionally drained after the World Cup victory and never really got time to recover because of the IPL. The team came together in England from various places and didn't click as a unit. Given the number of injuries, the selectors should have been more proactive in their thinking."

India played just one warm-up game before the start of the Test series, while several players were involved in back-to-back series - the World Cup, IPL, the tour of West Indies and England. One of the criticisms levelled against the BCCI is that it has failed to prioritise Test cricket.

"It's nonsense," Srinivasan said. "Test cricket is the pinnacle of the game. We are not obsessed with the numbers like a section of the media. But when we reached the top of the Test rankings and stayed there for close two years, nobody raised these questions. Now, just after one bad series, criticisms are flying thick and fast. We must learn to be sporting. Being the No. 1 doesn't mean we won't lose a match or series.

"Everybody wants to play for India and unless one does well for India he doesn't become a big hit in the IPL. I believe all the players aspire to play Test cricket and do well there, because the performance in Tests matters most."