Posts Tagged ‘Asia Cup’
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The win against Afghanistan in the final game and Virat Kohli’s hundred after 3 years should not mask what a disastrous Asia Cup campaign this was for the Indian T20 team. India entered into the tournament as clear favorites with Pakistan being their competition but their performances were inconsistent to put it politely. The biggest issue for India was the lack of clarity in selection of the playing XI. While the team composition for the first 2 games looked right, some injuries and management succumbing to pressures of including some players in the XI caused some confusion with the playing combination.
The biggest issue with the previous leadership was the same that they lacked clarity with the team selection. While most often the top 3 remained same the rest of the batting order constantly kept changing which meant that India went into major tournaments without a settled batting order. The current leadership group seem to be following the same patter ahead of an important tournament. India is the number 1 T20 team in the world by a comfortable margin but again you wouldn’t be able to guess that by their performance in the Asia Cup.
The batting order was muddled. While the top 3 were okay, the rest of the batting kept changing. The first 2 games had the 2 all-rounders in the middle which gave the captain 6 bowling options, which wasn’t the case in the second stage of the tournament. India had to bowl just the 5 bowlers as it seemed like the captain did not have confidence in the bowling of Deepak Hooda. One has to question the selection of Hooda in the XI if he wasn’t going to bowl. India did have the option of Axar Patel in the absence of Jadeja which the management for some reason failed to make use of. For example Dinesh Karthik was chosen in the squad for his finishing abilities but again he wasn’t there for the two crucial super 4 games where a good finish might have given India those extra 10-15 runs.
The World T20 is just over a month away and India as usual are struggling to figure out what their ideal combination for the tournament would be. This is exactly what happened in the 2019 WC and the 2021 T20 WC last year. The team keeps experimenting till the last minute and manage to include players who haven’t played much in the squad leading up to an imbalanced playing XI in crucial games. I agree that the absence of Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel left a big hole in the bowling line up but again there were no excuses in the batting.
If India want to seriously win a world tournament they need to identify and stick to a playing XI for at least a few games to let them settle. India have announced their T20 WC squad and except for the return of Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel, there isn’t many surprises in the 15. The good thing is that India have picked the same squad for the series against Australia and South Africa which gives them ample opportunities to figure out their right playing combination for the World Cup. I understand that the playing conditions are completely different but again India for sure need to try and play the best team composition which they think will work irrespective of the surface they play on. If they continue to experiment too much leading up to the WC, they might end up with an unbalanced playing XI in the World Cup which might come back to haunt them in crucial games.
World T20 Squad:
Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul (vc), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wk), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Hardik Pandya, R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh.
Standby Players: Mohammed Shami, Shreyas Iyer, Ravi Bishnoi, Deepak Chahar
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The biggest problem we have had over the past few years with the Indian cricket team has been arriving at the right balance for a LOI XI. While in Test cricket there isn’t much room for experimentation in ODIs due to the enormous talent pool at their disposal India started to play around with their combination so much that they end up playing an unbalanced XI at most times.
In the ongoing Asia Cup if we look at the first 2 games, the balance was perfect. The two all-rounders at 6 & 7 followed by 4 bowlers was the ideal combination for a T20 team. India had 6 genuine bowling options in the first 2 games which helped India to juggle the bowlers better. When Jadeja was injured after the Hong Kong game, the Indian team broke that combination in their first Super 4 game against Pakistan which led to an unbalanced XI.
India had finally given into the wish list which the fans and experts have been calling for since the start of the tournament. The inclusion of Rishabh Pant is one such wish list which wasn’t needed in the scheme of things. Dinesh Karthik who played the first 2 games of the tournament hadn’t done anything wrong to be dropped for the game against Pakistan. Also the inclusion of Deepak Hooda did not make sense as well as India already had a like for like replacement for Jadeja with Axar Patel.
While Hooda was selected in the XI as a batter who could give you couple of overs, the fact that Rohit never used him with the ball is perplexing. This would only lead us to believe that Rohit Sharma or the team management do not have much confidence in the bowling abilities of Deepak Hooda. We saw that both Hardik Pandya & Yuzvendra Chahal had an off day and still they completed their full quota going for 11 an over. An over or 2 by the 6th bowler could have helped Rohit if he had the services of someone like Axar Patel at his disposal. This is what happens when you start heeding to chatter around you instead of selecting a team which gives the best balance for the XI.
If India wanted to play Rishabh Pant, he should have replaced Karthik but Hooda does not make into the XI as it affected the balance which the team had for the first 2 games. If Axar Patel was available and fit, he should have been in the XI in the place of Ravindra Jadeja. Axar is a genuine bowler, who most often than not gives you miserly overs in the middle and also picks up wickets. The lack of conviction in picking up the ideal LO XI has come back to haunt India. To be frank except for couple of forced changes, India did not have to make any more changes to the XI but they did it anyways.
The T20 WC is just over a month away and neither the fans nor the management know what India’s ideal XI is. Winning the Asia Cup is important but more than that India need to decide what batting ideal for the T20 team leading up to the marquee tournament. The biggest problem India had in 2021 WC in UAE was that the team was all over the place and there was no consistency in selection. India came into the Asia cup with some strange selections where players who played most games over the last 18 months were overlooked and now with this ridiculous meddling with the playing XI they are digging themselves into a bigger hole.
India take on Sri Lanka today for an important clash which will decide whether they can make it to the finals or not. I hope that some sense prevails and they go back to the combination they had for the first 2 games. Having a lot of talent is one thing but playing the right combination is what wins you tournaments.
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I know that India are known to back a bowler when they think that they see some potential. The Indian team management has backed Avesh Khan an lot over the last 18 months. Avesh has played 15 T20Is during this time and has mostly looked underwhelming. He did have couple of good performances over the last few months but mostly he has failed to provide the control which India needs from their third pacer in the XI. When we look at the last 18 months Avesh Khan has played 4th most number of games for India just behind, B Kumar, H Patel and H Pandya. His 15 games have only produced 13 wickets at an average of 32 and an economy rate of 9.1.
If you look in T20 terms, 15 games is quite a high number and none of the other bowlers except for the 3 others I mentioned above have played that many games. Even in the IPL where Avesh Khan had a decent time there were others who did better than him who weren’t considered for the National side. Mohammed Shami played just 5 T20Is over the past 18 months and had better average and economy rate than Avesh but was still not considered for the Asia Cup.
When we look at the IPL 2022, there were some great Indian bowling performances. The one bowler who comes to mind immediately is Moshin Khan. Moshin played 9 games this season and took 14 wickets but what was outstanding about his performance was his economy rate of 5.96. It is incredible for a fast bowler to bowl quick and also have a low economy rate as well. It would have been great to see him bowl for India at least against Ireland and Zimbabwe to see how good he can be at the international level. Umran Malik also impressed everyone with his pace. That x-factor is what which got him into the Indian XI quicker than expected. Agreed that his first 3 games did not go well but again India need to make sure such a talent is not ignored. He had a great IPL where he picked up 22 wickets at 14.
The other bowler who India completely ignored was Umesh Yadav who also had a great IPL 2022. His economy rate was just over 7 and he picked up 16 wickets in the tournament. Umesh Yadav decided to play county cricket this year and did exceedingly well with the ball in the Royal London Cup. Agreed that Mohammed Shami hasn’t had the best of times in this format for India but again he has lots of experience in white ball cricket and has been a constant performer in IPL. He once again had a good IPL season this time around picking 20 wickets at an economy rate of 8. Khaleel Ahmed who has represented India in the past in limited overs format also had a great IPL with better stats than Avesh Khan. Now the question to be asked is whether picking Avesh Khan was a wise decision for the Asia Cup. India haven’t picked any other pacer in their main squad which means that they cannot swap him over with a replacement through the reminder of the tournament.
The signs were there through this year. I understand that Avesh Khan looks a great prospect. He can bowl quick, when he does well he picks up wickets but again those performances are rare and he most often than not gets taken for lots of runs. There is a pattern when we look at his overall stats. He played 3 ODIs for India and went for 7.74 runs in them. His List A economy rate is 5.64 and his overall T20 economy rate is 8.14. So this begs the question what was the rationale in picking him as the sole third seamer for a competition like Asia Cup?
India have moved on to the super 4 stage of the competition and it will be interesting to see if they continue to play Avesh Khan in those games as well. With Hardik Pandya back to bowling at full tilt there probably is a chance of playing Ravi Bishnoi or Ravichandran Ashwin as the third spinner in the XI instead of Avesh Khan. I feel that his performance against Hong Kong should make the management think whether they should continue to pick him in the XI for the rest of the tournament. The team management and the selectors need to realise that we are not in the 90’s where there was a dearth of fast bowlers in the country. India now boasts of great talent at the domestic level which hasn’t been properly explored. There are great bowling options available for India if they want to try them out and give them a chance. India did pick Arshdeep Singh who comparatively had a very poor IPL 2022 but again he has shown that he has the skills to succeed at this level with proper guidance.
India still has some time before the World T20 and I hope that some sense prevails and right backup pacers are picked. Australia is a tough place to bowl fast and India would need bowlers who can hit the deck and keep runs in check as well. Avesh in his limited time with the Indian team has shown that he cannot consistently provide that control. I am not saying that we should discard Avesh Khan permanently but again at this moment he isn’t the right choice for India in this format.
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India, over the past 2 years have been experimenting a lot with their limited overs side. This may be attributed to the amount of cricket the Indian players play in a year. The combination of IPL and the busy international calendar means that India are forced to rotate players to prevent burnout. What this also does is that many high performing players from IPL and domestic cricket get to experience International cricket and prove their worth. This also means that when selecting a team for a tournament like World T20, the selectors and team management are presented with way too many options which might make the process more tricky.
Since January 2021, India have played 37 T20Is, a number which isn’t huge but again we are taking that timeline as that provides as with recent performers. India are playing in UAE before flying out to Australia for the World T20 which means that the squad picked for the former would mostly be the one which is selected for the latter as well. The spin bowling combination is something which is always up to debate when a squad is picked. Last year for the T20 WC which happened in UAE, India went with the mystery of Varun Chakravarthy along with Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja as their three spinners. While Varun started the tournament as the lead spinner, he was dropped for the 3rd game after initial 2 losses but did play one more game against Scotland where he ended up wicketless. Varun hasn’t played much since then and is nowhere in consideration for a spot in the India team at the moment.
Over the past 18 months the spinner who has played most games for India is Yuzvendra Chahal. He has played 17 games and has an average of 21 with an economy rate of 7.49. He has been the main spinner for India over that time and is rightfully in the squad for the Asia cup. Ravi Bishnoi though is a surprise selection this time. Even though everyone knows the talent Bishnoi possesses he has been picked ahead of Axar Patel who has played the second most number of games over the last 18 months. Bishnoi himself has played 9 games over this time at a very good average of 16.5 and an economy rate of 7.15. Also Bishnoi bowls a different style of Leg Spin to Chahal and does provide India with an X-Factor in the middle overs.
The other surprising selection for sure is of Ravichandran Ashwin. Ashwin has a fine record in T20Is over the same period but including the 3 games he played in the WT20 last year, he has only featured in 8 of the 37 games India have played since January 2021. While the team management have been adamant about Ashwin being in the plans for T20 WC, he did not feature in too many games over the past few months. He though has the best economy rate among the 4 spinners picked which is an incredible 5.78.
The fourth spinner though is Ravindra Jadeja but again he will feature in the team as an all-rounder. While Jadeja and Axar Patel have similar bowling record over this period, the batting is the reason Jadeja gets the edge. Since the beginning of 2021 Jadeja averages 51 with the bat at a SR of 141, which is brilliant for a lower middle order all-rounder. The only bowler who might feel a little hard done is Kuldeep Yadav. Kuldeep has only played 4 games over the last 18 months for India and while he hasn’t done badly, his lack of games tells us that he was never in consideration.
The biggest problem for India is that there aren’t any spinners who are standing out in recent times. The fact that Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja are still relavent in T20 format is because of the dearth of good spinners in domestic cricket . Ravi Bishnoi is the only spinner who comes to mind and he is part of the India squad. To be frank the selectors have picked the only options they have available for the Asia Cup and they cannot be blamed for their choices.
While the spinners picked have been based on statistics and performances it will be interesting to see who will actually play in the XI. The fact that Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja are a must as all-rounders , it leaves room for only one spinner in the XI and Yuzvendra Chahal for sure is going to occupy that spot. Deepak Hooda who might play in the middle order will double up as the third spin option. The spinners for the World T20 for sure will be picked from this bunch and considering there are no games before the marquee tournament after Asia Cup, majority of the same group might be travelling to Australia as well.
The squad for the World Cup though might still see some changes. Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav might still be in consideration for a spot. Kuldeep especially as he bowled well in Zimbabwe and he does bring the necessary variation to the spin attack. The problem though is that the T20 World Cup is in Australia which means that India might not pick too many spinners in the squad.
Irfan replaces Vinay Kumar
Posted on: July 13, 2012
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Irfan Pathan replaces Vinay Kumar for the Sri Lankan ODI series to begin later this month. Vinay Kumar suffered from an hamstring injury and has been ruled out for 3 weeks. The addition of Irfan for sure is a blessing for India as this gives them an all-round option in the line up.
Speaking to the press after the announcement Irfan said he is ready for the series and hopes to give his best.
“Obviously, when I was overlooked initially, I was thinking about what are the areas I needed to work upon and was focusing on my training at the National Cricket Academy,” Irfan told PTI.
“I am pretty satisfied with the hours that I have put in at the nets and in the indoor sessions there. After this call-up, the focus will shift to the Lankan series.”
Irfan will be hoping for a good show in this series and would hope to cement his place in the ODI X1. He seemed to have his swing back when he played in the Asia cup earlier this year and his batting would be a definite advantage for the Indian team lower down the order.
“I played 8 ODIs after my comeback and have got 13 wickets. I have scored around 100 runs in the five innings that I have batted. For someone like me, the more I play international matches, the better I will get,” signed off Irfan.
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Mahindra Singh Dhoni will want a good performance from the team after the debacle at the World T20 and Zimbabwe
The team for Asia cup was announced earlier this week and as expected the seniors have returned to the squad after being rested for the tri-series in Zimbabwe. The experiment of playing an A team in Zimbabwe back fired badly as India crashed out without making the finals losing twice to Zimbabwe. The Indian bowling was poor and the batsmen were inconsistent. The star performers from that tri series have been retained though in the squad to Srilanka for the Asia cup (The other two teams being Pakistan and Bangladesh).
Rohit Sharma who made two centuries in Zimbabwe makes the squad, so does Virat Kohli. The selectors have given another chance to Dinda who was ordinary in Zimbabwe and also Ravichandran Aswin who turned in a decent performance in the only chance he got on the tour. Ravindra Jadeja has been retained in the squad after he scored couple of valuable 50’s on the tour, even though his bowling and fielding has been largely disappointing.
Yuvraj Singh has been dropped for the Asia cup due to his poor form and fitness. He was one of the members in the squad pointed out by Gary Kirsten as being unfit to play any form of cricket. Yuvraj’s form has deserted him since his return from injury and I hope that he takes this break on his stride and really works on his fitness and form. He is a brilliant limited overs player and India would want him fit and firing for the World Cup next year in India.
Sachin Tendulkar has been rested for the Asia cup as per his request to be able to spend more time with his family. The rest of the squad pick themselves with Dhoni returning as the captain of the team. Ghambir and Sehwag will return to the top of the order with Raina, Kohli and Rohit forming the middle order. The all-rounder spot will be up for grabs and will be a tossup between Aswin and Jadeja. Dhoni will be back donning the gloves followed by Bajji, Zaheer, Praveen and Nehra completing the X1.
Saurabh Tiwary makes his India debut after a brilliant IPL for the Mumbai Indians. I doubt that he will make it to the final X1 though unless there is a injury or a dead game where India can experiment. I hope that he gets a chance though as he is an exciting talent.
All in all a decent job by the selectors considering the options they had. The onus will be on the experience of Sehwag, Ghambir and Dhoni. The bowling even though experienced might do okay on the slow Lankan pitches. Bajji will be crucial and so will the part-time spinners. I hope that we put up a decent performance this time and hopefully will reach the finals.
Squad: MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Praveen Kumar, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Pragyan Ojha, Ashok Dinda, R Ashwin, Saurabh Tiwary.
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Dinda has been very disappointing in the ongoing tri-series in Zimbabwe
The ongoing tri-series in Zimbabwe has proven one thing for sure that India will continue to struggle with the bowling well into the future. When Ishant Sharma made his debut he looked the part. He troubled the best of the best and bowled with pace and accuracy. There was never a doubt that he had enormous talent. The only frustrating part is that he let it all go within the matter of a year.
This has been the problem with the Indian bowling over the years. They all come in with a bang but fade away in couple of years. The list is endless; Nehra, Pathan, Munaf, Sreesanth, RP Singh, Ishant Sharma etc. have followed the same pattern. But looking at the current set of bowlers in Zimbabwe, they seem well short of International standard. None of them have even troubled a Zimbabwe team who has hardly played any international cricket.
This shows that we don’t have any good prospects coming up in the near future to take over the bowling mantle. So with the Indian team having a busy schedule ahead of them this year we surely need Ishant and Sreesanth back to their best. With India playing tests against Sri Lanka, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa this year, we need one of these two to be back to their best. Even though BCCI had a noble thought of playing almost an A team in the Zimbabwe series I feel that they missed a trick by not having an experienced bowler to guide these youngsters.
If not Zaheer, they should have at least had Irfan or RP Singh as it would have also given them a chance to make a comeback to the Indian team. With all the bowlers being new and with zero international experience, they have come well short of expectations. Losing to Zimbabwe two games in a row is unacceptable even for an Indian A team.
Umesh Yadav, even though looks promising is way inconsistent to bowl at the international level, so is Dinda. With the spinners also disappointing in the current series it seems like it will be difficult to look past Bajji for some time to come. India needs to really unearth a potent combination soon as they have few important series coming up.
So it will be interesting to see what the bowling combination would be for the upcoming series in Srilanka and the Asia cup. I am expecting Zaheer and Bajji to be back in the test team but the rest of the attack is still undecided. I guess it’s time to go back to Ishant and Sreesanth and hope that they hit form.
No Surprises in the test squad
Posted on: July 10, 2008
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The Indian team for the upcoming Srilankan tour was selected couple of days ago and predictably the seniors were back in the side. Gautham Gambhir made it back to the test team due to his great showing in the ODI’s and Twenty20 and Pragyan Ojha was also drafted in the 16. Gambhir’s inclusion in the side was expected as he has been our most consistant player over the last 8 months or so and deserved a chance at the top of the order in tests. Rohit Sharma also made it to the test squad owing to his great performances in the one dayers but I doubt that he will make it to the final X1.
The notable absentees in the test squad were Yuraj Singh and Irfan Pathan and Harbajan Singh made it back into the team after serving a ban for slapping Sreesanth in the IPL. Quite frankly I am not that surprised or puzzled on the omission of Yuvraj as he was given a long run in the middle order after his hundred against pakistan. Yuvraj has always produced that one special innings time to time but lacks the consistancy at the test level. Irfan’s was more of a shock as he had performed creditably in the test series in Australia bagging man of the match award in the perth test match.
But overall the selectors have done a great job. The batting looks solid and the bowling attack seems decent. India possess a great top six and I would go to an extent of calling them the best in the world when it comes of. Sehwag and Gambhir will open in the first test for sure, followed by Dravid, Sachin, Ganguly and Laxman. Parthiv or Karthik will occupy the number 7 spot. The advantage for the Indians with Karthik and Parthiv is that they can also open the batting if we decide to go with 5 bowlers. Pathan’s absence might leave a long tail for India but I guess thats the risk we have to take in the absence of a genuine allrounder in the squad.
The bowling will depend on the pitch conditions and I would prefer Ojha in the place of Harbajan if we go with two spinners. Ojha was very impressive in the Asia cup as he was able to get wickets in the middle overs, a department India struggle a lot in ODI. India will go with Zaheer and Ishant if playing only two pace bowlers. Overall the test series will be a great watch as everyone will be eager to see how the seniors handle mendis after his stupendous showing in the Asia Cup. Dhoni openly admitted in the media that the Indian batsmen were clueless against the genial spinner from Srilanka after the Asia Cup final.
Dhoni will not be playing in this series giving an opportunity to either Karthik or Parthiv to showcase their talent. All in all an interesting battle is on the cards when the two team meet on the 23rd of July at the SSC.
No Surprises in the test squad
Posted on: July 10, 2008
Prgyan Ojha and Rohit Sharma
The Indian team for the upcoming Srilankan tour was selected couple of days ago and predictably the seniors were back in the side. Gautham Gambhir made it back to the test team due to his great showing in the ODI’s and Twenty20 and Pragyan Ojha was also drafted in the 16. Gambhir’s inclusion in the side was expected as he has been our most consistant player over the last 8 months or so and deserved a chance at the top of the order in tests. Rohit Sharma also made it to the test squad owing to his great performances in the one dayers but I doubt that he will make it to the final X1.
The notable absentees in the test squad were Yuraj Singh and Irfan Pathan and Harbajan Singh made it back into the team after serving a ban for slapping Sreesanth in the IPL. Quite frankly I am not that surprised or puzzled on the omission of Yuvraj as he was given a long run in the middle order after his hundred against pakistan. Yuvraj has always produced that one special innings time to time but lacks the consistancy at the test level. Irfan’s was more of a shock as he had performed creditably in the test series in Australia bagging man of the match award in the perth test match.
But overall the selectors have done a great job. The batting looks solid and the bowling attack seems decent. India possess a great top six and I would go to an extent of calling them the best in the world when it comes of. Sehwag and Gambhir will open in the first test for sure, followed by Dravid, Sachin, Ganguly and Laxman. Parthiv or Karthik will occupy the number 7 spot. The advantage for the Indians with Karthik and Parthiv is that they can also open the batting if we decide to go with 5 bowlers. Pathan’s absence might leave a long tail for India but I guess thats the risk we have to take in the absence of a genuine allrounder in the squad.
The bowling will depend on the pitch conditions and I would prefer Ojha in the place of Harbajan if we go with two spinners. Ojha was very impressive in the Asia cup as he was able to get wickets in the middle overs, a department India struggle a lot in ODI. India will go with Zaheer and Ishant if playing only two pace bowlers. Overall the test series will be a great watch as everyone will be eager to see how the seniors handle mendis after his stupendous showing in the Asia Cup. Dhoni openly admitted in the media that the Indian batsmen were clueless against the genial spinner from Srilanka after the Asia Cup final.
Dhoni will not be playing in this series giving an opportunity to either Karthik or Parthiv to showcase their talent. All in all an interesting battle is on the cards when the two team meet on the 23rd of July at the SSC.
Choking Hazard
Posted on: July 9, 2008
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Yet another finals and yet another loss. Its been a common sight in recent times to see the Indian team come to the final of a tournament and lose heavily in the same. When India won the Twenty20 world cup and the CB series in Australia all of us thought that the trend has reversed and the young Indian team has found a way to win the finals too. As seen in the last to finals it was not to be the case. The Indians after great performances in the round robin stages in both the Asia Cup and Kitply cup lost in finals to hand the trophy to Srilanka and Pakistan respectively.
This has been a problem for the men in blue for a long time now since the days when Ganguly was in charge (Azhar had more luck in the finals). Before the Twenty20 world cup India hardly won any tournament comprising of more than 2 teams since the 1999 World Cup. The only tournament India won was the Natwest Series due to the brilliance of Yuvraj and Kaif. Even in that final we were well on the way to another defeat before the great partnership happened. If we discount the Champions Trophy (2002) and the TVS Cup (2003) which we shared with srilanka and South Africa respectively, India hardly won any finals.
Well when we dwell into the reasons of those failures we can immediately zero in on the inconsistancy of the Indian top order in crunch games. The reason India was able to win the CB series against the Australia was because of the top order performances. Sachin and Uthappa gave India bright starts and the middle order capitalised on the same to seal victory. The Indian bowling also seemed to raise to the challenge in both the finals.Twenty20 win was due to the heroics of another top order batsmen, this time it was Gambhir. The Indian bowling also seem to choke in crucial games and lack the consistancey required for a tournament final, who can forget the nervous opening over from Zaheer in 2003 worldcup finals to hand the initiative to Australia. Zaheer also had trouble in the 2000 edition of ICC Knockout trophy against the Kiwis.
India would probably figure in the top 5 for the teams played in most finals but in bottom 3 for the teams winning tournament. Its seems like we have taken over the “Chokers” tag which was famously associated with the South African team. The Indian one day captain Dhoni would want to reverse this trend as soon as possible as this might become a habit for teams.
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