India won the ODI World Cup in 2011. MS Dhoni-led side lost just a single game in the entire tournament. In their last four games, they systematically defeated all former world champions. Indian fans celebrated the momentous occasion. They believed it started that India would now win every ICC tournament from hereon.
But all the team could add to the tally was the 2013 Champions Trophy. India has sadly failed multiple times in the knockout stages of different ICC tournaments. Different factors have contributed to India’s inability to win the big games.
We look at the shortcomings that pegged back the Indian team:
#4 Absence of part-time bowlers
The most underrated aspect of India’s World Cup-winning squad was their part-time bowlers. India’s top-7 boasted of a who’s who of batters in international cricket. But they added huge value to the bowling setup too. This provided great batting depth too as India could always play 7 specialist batsmen.
The likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Suresh Raina, and Yusuf Pathan all rolled their arm over effectively. They could always chip in with 10 overs each game. The squad in the 2015 and 2019 World Cup lacked this balance.
#3 Lack of left-arm seam bowling options
Zaheer Khan was the joint-highest wicket-taker in the 2011 World Cup. His canny left arm proved to be India’s biggest ace in the tournament. He used the angles smartly to trouble both right and left-handed batters. Every team since then has bothered India with left-arm pacers. But India didn’t manage to groom any. In both the World Cups where they lost in the semis, India’s one-dimensional attack came up a cropper.
#2 No genuine allrounder in the playing XI
It was Yuvraj Singh who proved to be India’s biggest X-factor in the 2011 ODI World Cup. He scored 362 runs and picked up 15 wickets as he went to win the player of the tournament award. Ravindra Jadeja went on to replicate the heroics in Champions Trophy 2013. He won the player of the tournament for his all-round brilliance.
But no Indian allrounder could match these feats in the next ICC tournaments. India will pin their hopes on Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja to deliver the goods in the T20 World Cup 2022.
#1 Questionable decision-making from the team management
Post the phasing out of Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina, India’s middle-order especially the number 4 position remained wobbly. India tried many options but the management didn’t seem to completely trust a single player. Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer, and Manish Pandey appeared as solutions but they weren’t given a long rope.
India finally seemed to have found a solution in Ambati Rayudu leading up to the World Cup. But in a strange turn of events, Rayudu was dropped over mixed scores in three games. India completely lost the plot in the 2019 World Cup. They ultimately paid the price in the heartbreak of a semifinal defeat against New Zealand.
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