Imagine yourself in front of the T.V or in the stadium itself, its the T20 World cup finale the team featuring in final knockout are India and Pakistan. India needs 4 runs in 2 balls, Kohli on the strike, Pandya on the non-strikers’ end, Amir delivering his final spell and…..and….we see Kohli hit the ball for a six, his tremendous wrist work takes the ball over the off side into the stands. Meanwhile, amongst the spectators we hear a man shouting MAARO MUJHE MAARO, India breaks the Jinx after 8 years; We all wish this was true but WHAT THE HELL CORONA, I mean it might’ve been possible the other way around (If it’s still possible in 2020 )
The whole world is on a standstill and no sporting events are going on, while the last cricket action I saw was on 8th Feb when India locked horns against Australia in the T20 World Cup Finale, where Australia defended their title successfully by lifting their 5th World Cup, becoming the most successful team in women’s cricket.
Okay, now the last memory I remember of India lifting an ICC Trophy is back in 2013 which was champions trophy (Technically it should be 2018 U-19 World Cup but its somehow not in the category). We have been a very impressive team since the 2010s, we rebuilt the test side, upgraded the ODI team, and found a good balance in T20i’s, so Why India loses in crunch situations be it men or women—are we the chokers of ICC tournament? According to me, I can’t come to a final Judgement, It’s not like we don’t know how to win, we always play well in the whole tournament, its the nail-biting encounters or the crunch situations where we fail so it would be unfair to not acknowledge all the hard work they do to come this far, we have been just unlucky and sometimes have been unable to implement the 100% on the field.
Going further we will compare the records of the tournaments we have lost since 2013 and try to pick out some weaknesses.
The Records speak
I did some research to find the statistics, not surprising enough we lack only the final touch. We cross through the league dominating opponents and get out in the knockouts which is demoralizing.
As we saw, the statistics very well show the consistent performance of team India in league stages and consistent inconsistency during the knockouts. According to my point of view, I have highlighted some major reasons for India slipping in the pressure situations. (P.S -I have no intentions to offend anyone, these are solely my opinions)
- Over Dependency on the Top Order. (Majorly if the No.1, 2 and 3 does well the team does well, which is very dangerous at times)
- Lack of players who can stand out individually. (Players who take control despite whatever situation team is in, handles the responsibility well )
- No.4 batsman problem recently. (Currently it doesn’t apply as Mr. Shreyas Iyer plays the role very well)
- Psychological Disadvantage. (Mental blockage due to repetitive losses in big matches)
- Humdrum team management / Selection.
- Giving out easy runs at critical moments. (Mis-fields which are avoidable proves out to be regretful blunders at the end moment of the matches)
Anyways this year most probably seems like lacking World Cup but let’s hope for the best. Team India be it Men or Women are so much of talent all they now deserve is an ICC trophy real soon, because talent is the base of all beginnings and they just need to focus more on techniques in the betterment of their skills. Always Rooting for the Men and Women in Blue.
If you like the content, let me know how you feel and all kinds of feedback would be appreciated. Stay tuned for the next blog on IPL.
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