The sports pages in Monday morning papers on June 12 were mostly about Novak Djokovic’s 23 record Grand Slams and Pep Guardiola’s record feat and less about Australia winning (or India losing) the World Test Championship (WTC) in London. With this defeat, India’s hunt for the elusive ICC trophy since 2013 continues.
Fear stalks Team India whenever it plays big knockout games. Be it the 2021 T20 World Cup when Virat Kohli-led India were thrashed by Pakistan or when the Rohit Sharma-led India meekly surrendered to England in the T20 World Cup semi-final in Adelaide last November. Whenever the going got tough, Indian superstars crumbled under pressure. The WTC final against Australia was no different. No wonder Rishabh Pant’s services were badly missed.
How else does anyone explain the exclusion of world number one bowler Ravichandran Ashwin in WTC final or opting to bowl after winning the toss? So strong is the fear of losing that the team management banks on the batting skills of Shardul Thakur and Axar Patel to lead the rescue act, in the event of its fabled top order folding up.
After the London defeat, in their post-match interactions, captain Rohit Sharma and coach Rahul Dravid were vague and clueless. As Sharma floated a three-Test series idea for future WTC finals, coach Dravid defended the batting performance of the Indian top order, saying how averages of top order batters in other teams have also dropped.
Luckily for India, they made Australia wait till the fifth day as if it was any face-saver. It’s another matter that it was Dravid who had led the Indian fightback and beat Australia in the epic Kolkata Test in 2021.
Greg Chappell, writing in the Sydney Morning Herald after India’s historic Gabba victory in 2021, was effusive in his praise for Dravid for his nurturing of young Indian cricketers at National Cricket Academy. The Aussie great had said, “Don’t worry about India becoming the best team — they are already capable of producing the best five teams in world cricket!” Where did Dravid go wrong in just two years?
After the 2021 T20 World Cup defeat, it was said team India was about to go through major changes under new captain Sharma and coach Dravid who replaced Kohli and Ravi Shastri. Only Wriddhiman Saha was shown the door.
The Indian Premiere League (IPL) has no doubt changed the business of cricket and has been earning the Indian cricket board thousands of crores. But at what cost? As selectors pick their squads based on IPL performances, the domestic games like Ranji and Duleep trophies are dying a slow death. Some of the top international match-winners like Travis Head, Kane Williamson, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes, Steve Smith are not IPL sensations.
What lessons can India learn from defeats in knockout games? Will there be course correction? Will the aging war horses make way for new and fresh players like Abhimanyu Easwaran, Sarfaraz Khan, Umran Malik and Arshdeep Singh? Will they be given a long rope to hone their skills? Or as Gautam Gambhir asked, when will we start putting focus on the team and not on few individuals? Otherwise, it will be more of the same.
But wait. Before that we have the ODI World Cup that India will be hosting this October. Is India the favourite on home soil? Does India have the firepower to take on the likes of England, Australia and New Zealand who play aggressive and fearless cricket? Is it time to look beyond Dravid’s brand of cricket?
The road to redemption is never an easy one, but what India needs is the courage to bring about wholesale change. Fortune favours only those who are brave. Are we ready?
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