ICC tournaments, Australia overcame New Zealand by eight wickets to win the 2021 T20 world championship, and Mitchell Marsh’s explosive 77-run innings was a big part of that victory. However, the world cup has been a terrible letdown for Indian fans. India was the overwhelming favorite to win the World Cup before the competition ever began. However, the Indian squad has once again fallen short of the “favorites” label, just like in each of the previous seven ICC tournaments.
India lost to Sri Lanka in the T20 World Cup final in 2014, to Australia in the 50-over World Cup in 2015, to West Indies in the T20 World Cup semifinals in 2016, to Pakistan in the Champions Trophy finals in 2017, and to New Zealand in the 50-over World Cup semifinals of 2019.
But over this time, the Indian team has consistently ranked in the top five across all forms. This begs the question of why the team has trouble in ICC competitions. Let’s examine India’s poor performance in ICC tournaments in more detail.
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India: Isn’t brave enough?
Nasser Hussain, a former England captain, revealed to t20worldcup.com that the Indian squad doesn’t play brave cricket. You have to express yourself publicly, he said. They (India) are incredibly talented. That might be the only thing preventing India from competing in ICC events. Despite their potential, they don’t quite play the courageous type of cricket they should.”
India’s conservative approach to cricket may be due to the extremely high expectations of its supporters. The sport of cricket has a sizable following in India, where victory is the only way to appease the cricket gods. There have been several occasions in the past where fans have retaliated violently against the team after a loss.
One such incident was India’s World Cup semifinal loss to Sri Lanka in Kolkata’s Eden Gardens stadium in 1996. As well as hurling objects onto the pitch, the spectators began setting the stands on fire. Similar incidents occurred in 2007 when the Indian team lost in the semifinals of the 50-over World Cup when crowds threw rocks at cricketers’ residences while also setting fire to effigies of Rahul Dravid, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, and Virendra Sehwag.
The players are under pressure to keep their spot on the team in addition to the pressure from the fans. Thanks to its constantly expanding skill pool, the Indian squad has become a force during the past ten years. In order to maintain their position on the squad, players must be at the top of their game.
Consequently, the Indian squad likes to play a risk-averse form of cricket due to the combination of unrealistic expectations and ongoing pressure. Instead of going all out and losing, the squad wants to remain in the game. They play aggressively, emulating MS Dhoni, the skipper with a cool demeanor. They are encouraged to play conservative cricket by this strategy.
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Over – exhaustion
India last claimed the ICC Champions Trophy in 2013, winning the competition without suffering a loss. The Indian squad competed in 31 international games on all three platforms and in the IPL in the year leading up to the Champions Trophy.
In contrast, India played 27 international matches before the 2021 T20 World Cup, including an IPL that ended on October 15, two days before the tournament’s commencement. These figures are astounding, especially when you consider that every match was played during the pandemic and that the team had to live in a bio-bubble. The team is definitely worn out after playing in more games. The players’ excessive tiredness was emphasized by Ravi Shastri, the former coach of the Indian team.
A worn-out mind may lack courage, which is something that happens when you lack courage. When you consider how much time these lads have spent in a bubble, it is possible that something similar to what happened against New Zealand will occur there. To work, you need that x-factor or spark, but it doesn’t. Although that is not an excuse, it didn’t occur that day. I’ll throw my hand up and admit the game against New Zealand was lacking in risk-taking on our part.”
The Indian team has struggled to win ICC events due to a combination of these factors. But now that Rahul Dravid is in charge, the Indian team’s future looks promising. Dravid has single-handedly transformed the youth squad and National Cricket Academy while also producing a number of superstars. Therefore, Indian supporters can now anticipate a great deal more success and, hopefully, ICC trophies in the future with him in charge of “inputs from www.thebridgechronicle.com”.
