When MS Dhoni & Co lifted Champions Trophy in 2013, who would have thought that India would suffer heartbreaks in the next 8 ICC events? Signing off as the only captain to win all the major ICC trophies, affiliated with the white ball, does the keeper batter drive away the luck with him? Or India is lacking a quality leader? Or the big names are failing to handle the pressure at crucial stages? Or they are not picking a good enough team that can win the tournaments?
Questions like these will keep coming till there’s an ICC trophy in the cabinet. But does Team India have answers to these questions? They have lost 8 consecutive ICC tournaments in, Cricket World Cups in 2015, and 2019, Champions Trophy in 2017, World Test Championship in 2021 and T20 World Cups in 2014, 2016, 2021 and 2022 and with the 2023 World Cup around the corner, will there be another heartbreak? Or will Men in Blue finally conquer the ICC trophy?
Several factors have been there which have been the reason behind their outrest in the ICC events since 2013. Let’s take a look at a few of them.
Poor squad and Playing 11 selection
The most prominent and major cause behind India’s fall in ICC events of late has been their poor squad and playing XI selection. If we analyse their recent loss in the T20 World Cup 2022, it was quite evident that poor selection caused them another trophy. Ahead of the tournament they did a lot of chopping and changing, resting, dropping and benching players. They didn’t play the consistent playing XI, who were in the lineup for the marquee tournament.
A prime example in this regard has been Yuzvendra Chahal. The leg-spinner featured in almost every game ahead of the World Cup but when it came to the main event he warmed the bench for the whole tournament with the team giving preference to R Ashwin, who hardly featured in the bilateral series. When Chahal was struggling to perform, Ravi Bishnoi grabbed all the opportunities and bowled sensationally well. He, however, in turn, was not even in the squad.
Mohammad Shami who wasn’t even in the scheme of things in T20Is after the T20 World Cup 2021 was added to the squad as a replacement for Jasprit Bumrah just a few days ahead of the tournament. Harshal Patel, who at one stage was seen as a permanent death specialist, also didn’t play any of the games in the tournament. They prepared Dinesh Karthik for the role of the finisher and he played every game in the build-up to the tournament. But when it came to the knockout stage, the keeper batter was sidelined with Rishabh Pant, who had very less game time, getting the opportunity.
India are the top quality side in bilateral series. No doubt. Then why not in ICC events?
— Sandeep Kumavat 🇮🇳 (@iamsrkumavat12) January 3, 2023
A similar kind of thing happened in the T20 World Cup 2021, where they did a blunder and selected inexperienced players like Varun Chakravarthy and Ishan Kishan and dropped veterans like Shikhar Dhawan and Yuzvendra Chahal, which eventually saw them getting out of the tournament in the league stage itself. They did a botch in the 2019 World Cup as well as India didn’t have the desired No.4 batter. Ambati Rayudu, who performed staggeringly well in the lead-up to the tournament, was dropped from the squad with the team preferring Vijay Shankar, who failed to deliver goods. It’s fair to say that poor selection has been the major factor that is hampering India’s chances in the ICC events. They need to understand and analyse the players well and give them clarity about their roles. One of the main thing that they need to do is not to select players after good outings in just one IPL season. Even though they have record breaking season, they should be send to grind hard in domestic circuit so that they are battle-ready and have no nerves about playing at international stage.
Dependency on 2-3 players
Dependency on 2-3 players has been one of the major factors behind India’s downfall in ICC events as it’s a sort of pattern that has been there since 2014. They are over-dependent on some premier players, who have failed in the knockout stages leading to consecutive defeats in tournaments. If we look at India’s recent campaign in T20 World Cup 2022, a similar thing was on the deck and when it came to the fag end of the event, they failed to deliver.
In the batting department, India was overly dependent on Suryakumar Yadav and Virat Kohli whereas Arshdeep Singh was the carrier of several hopes in the bowling department. The tiro no doubt was at its best in the league stage as they performed staggering well and it was because of their effort, the team managed to reach the semi-final. But in the semi-final against England, Suryakumar failed to fire, Kohli although got a fifty but struggled to time the ball and Arshdeep didn’t draw the blood for the side early like he did the whole tournament.
As they failed it was quite obvious rather expected that India would lose because this has been their story for a long time. This similar thing was noticeable in 2019 World as well. They were overly dependent on Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, who looked class apart. But when it came to the semi-finals the two kingpins of the batting lineup failed and others didn’t step up leading to one of the most disappointing losses for the team. In the 2021 T20 World Cup, it was a completely different story as none of them performed in the first two games, which saw them getting eliminated. It’s fair to say that dependency on 2-3 players isn’t a way forward for India. They need to give exposure to young players and train them accordingly so that they thrive under pressure and take team to glory. If they have to fancy their chances of winning any tournament, not just one or two but whole team needs to come to the party and contribute in whatever manner they could to help side achieve great heights.
Sudden change of game plan
Another prime reason for India’s keel over in the ICC events of late has been a sudden change of game plan. In the build-up to the tournament, they play a fearless brand of cricket, raising the hopes of the fans very high. But when it comes to the tournaments it seems they get scared and play very conservative cricket. It was quite evident in T20 World Cup 2022 as after the loss in 2021 as they adopted the fearless approach and played an aggressive brand of cricket, which saw them winning every bilateral series. Based on the kind of cricket they played ahead of the T20 World Cup many rooted for them to win the trophy. But when it came to the tournament, their old-fashioned approach was once again on the cards as they hardly showed signs of aggression.
However, this was not only the case in this tournament but in the previous ones as well. Albeit, they have managed to reach semi finals and final a few times, they failed to apply the same approach that took them to the knockout stages. It has been quite evident that pressure has got better of them in every ICC tournament since 2013 and has forced them to change the game plan suddenly. They need to continue the positive approach despite being down as it can help them overcome many obstacles and be on the top even in tough situations.
Wish you all a happy 2023.
India to finally win an ICC event this year?
WTC / WC 2023.#HappyNewYear— Rahul Rants (@rahul_rants) January 1, 2023
India hasn’t claimed a significant championship in a very long time, which has caused supporters to lose faith in their squad. It’s fair to argue that the nature of the game has completely changed, and teams, regardless of the format, are willing to take risks in order to win. They must comprehend the idea of “horses for courses” and set up various players for different formats. Since fearless cricket is what the world needs right now and is the secret to success for teams like England and Australia, who are dominating the sport worldwide. For India to play aggressively and advance as a team, it is necessary to recruit fresh talent and give them longer rope so that they can carry the legacy of greats like Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni and others to take the team forward.
