Asia Cup is going on in full energy and excitement because nail baiting finishes every day. it has been the most competitive tournament so far. But we are going to talk about Team Indian's early exit from this tournament which was a shocker not only for Indian fans but for all cricket fans around the globe.
Let's talk about Why is India choking in Big Tournaments?
India won the last ICC tournament in 2013 and won the last Asia Cup in 2018. India is the biggest cricket nation with a population of 1.25 billion people. They have the richest cricket league in the world named IPL and BCCI is the richest cricket board. Their players have the best facilities in cricket but are these players the best this is a huge question?
India won the 2007 T20 world cup where Gautam Gambhir was the top scorer with 75 and in the 2011 world cup Gautam Gambhir was also the top scorer with 97. Then 2013 Champions Trophy Indian bowlers came to the party and won it for their country. They saved a total of 129 in 20 overs and India won by 5 runs. Virat Kohli was the top scorer with 43.
Then the downfall of team India started in the ICC knockout in the 2014 final and the misery still continues.
2014 T20 World Cup final
Virat Kohli was in prime form in this tournament and he was the only batter in the final who was middling the ball pretty well but the rest of the batters struggled and India just managed to score 130/4 despite Virat Kohli's 77 from 58. Sri Lanka chased it down comfortably in just 17.5 overs and India lost the final.
2015 ODI world cup semi-final
India played reasonably well in this tournament but they faced home team Australia in the semi-final and they cut down their journey here. Australia scored 329 runs with the century of Steve Smith. India started well but the wickets of Virat and Rohit put the break on the further journey and they were all out on just 233.
2016 T20 World Cup Semi-final
This was another heartbreak for India at their home ground. Where Virat Kohli once again was in beast mode but India couldn't go further as West Indies cut down their journey. Virat Kohli was a top scorer with a splendid 89 off just 47 but their bowlers and fielders didn't respond. West Indies chased down the total of 193 in 19.4 overs.
2017 Champions Trophy Final
This was the 1st shocker for Team India against Pakistan. They both played a group match before where India dominated completely and then in an important final India was just blown away. Fakhar Zaman was out on a no-ball against Jasprit Bumrah and then he scored a magnificent 114 and Pakistan put on a huge total of 338. Then Muhammad Amir destroyed Indian Top Order with seam and swing. India was all out on just 158 and lost by a huge margin of 180. From here there was a little impression that India is choking on bigger events.
2019 ODI World Cup Semi-final
India was cruising the tournament till that point. Rohit Sharma scored 5 centuries in the tournament and Indian top order was in its full flow and their middle order was untested. But unfortunately, it happened in the semi-final where the top order of India was blown away for one more time. The target was 240 runs against New Zealand but they were reduced on 5/3. MS Dhoni and Jadeja played brilliantly and gave them hope but a direct hit from Guptill made sure that India won't go further.
ICC WTC final 2021.
India lost one more final in 2021. This was the final of the World Test Championship against New Zealand at Lord's. Once again Indian batters were under the radar and they were denied the ICC trophy one more time.
After that, there was just humiliation for them as they could never get going in the 2021 T20 World Cup. IPL just finished in September India was looking hot favourite to win the title this time but that was just wordings. Pakistan thrashed them for the 1st time in ICC World Cup by 10 wickets. Once again left-arm fast bowler went through the defence of the Indians top order batters.
And now in this Asia Cup 2022 where they came to find a perfect combination for the upcoming world cup but they have gone with many questions about selection, fitness, Fielding and roles.
Let's find out why they are struggling in big games except in the bilateral series.
India has played fine cricket after the last T20 World Cup but when it comes to big tournaments they find themselves in a Big Hole. There are some common reasons for that which are following
Exposed in pressure
If you check the big knockouts since 2014 one thing in common their top order didn't fully respond. Most of the time top 3 of India have done really well and played the most number of the balls which means their middle order never tested and has less experience. But when the Top 3 didn't fire then all pressure comes to the middle order and it resulted in the collapse.
Quantity over Quality
This quote might surprise you but this is a bitter truth. So far almost 100 players have represented India in the T20 format. From 2011 to 2016, 33 players made their debut. And from 2018 to 2022 also 33 players made their debut remember that International cricket was paused for almost 2 years due to Covid 19. So it means almost 10 players made their debut for India each year. Remember that out of those 33 players only 7 players have played 20 matches or above. I am not saying that those were not talented or quality players but if they were quality players then why they couldn't go further. And they gave the captaincy to the 7 players since the last T 20 world cup. So these are examples that they are compromising on quality over quantity.
Inconsistency
This is another big factor in Team Indian's downfall. There is inconsistency in the selection and in performance also. I have provided the stats in the above paragraph about players. No player from the top Indian players has played consistent cricket. Yes, rest is compulsory but you need to be in the rhythm and in form for big tournaments. You can't throw your best players in dead rubbers against small teams but when it comes to IPL then why the formula changes. Mumbai Indians were out from IPL 2022 but Jasprit Bumrah played all the matches. On the other side, Gujrat Titans were almost through to the playoffs in the early stage and Shami played all the matches. If they want to save their players then why they didn't rest them in IPL. This is a big question to answer.
All is not well in the Indian dressing room
Since the change of coaching staff, many things have changed quickly in Team India. 1st they through down Virat Kohli to the river and made Rohit captain of the team. Yes, he has been successful in IPL and in less-pressure matches. But in this Asia Cup, he was also exposed to captaincy and lost the match against Pakistan and against Sri Lanka also. There is a lot of confusion on this side and India needs to clarify that as early as possible. India played really poor cricket in a match against Sri Lanka and the death bowling from Bhuvneshwar was also not convincing as he is the spearhead of the bowling attack in the absence of Bumrah.
India has just one series before the World Cup which is their home series against Australia. So they have a very short time to prepare and remember that if they win this series that it still won't be satisfying. They need to do well in the upcoming World Cup because they need to do it badly but the situation is not fruitful for them.
