Despite the flurry of talent that has come through the ranks in recent years, India have struggled to win a single major ICC tournament for over 10 years now. And this year around, the Men in Blue will be welcoming back the ICC World Cup once again after 2011, when they last won the trophy.
But, why has India found no success in recent years? Well, commentator and former New Zealand fast bower Simon Doull had something to say about the same.
“Fearless cricket is their issue,” Doull said on Sky Sports. “They don’t play fearless cricket enough. They play statistics driven cricket and they are too worried about their stats too often. And to me that is the one area I am concerned about their batting side.”
“They have got all the talent and some of the best players if not the best players in the world. But it is about playing fearless cricket at the right time of the tournament and I think that is what had really let them down in the last few World Cups.”
India were outplayed by Kane Williamson’s New Zealand in the semi-final of the ODI World Cup. Former skipper Virat Kohli openly admitted that forty-five minutes of bad cricket knocked India out of the World Cup in 2019.
The cricketing world was left speechless at the commentator’s comments, and it wasn’t long till someone took it to themselves to clap back at him. And it was Sreesanth who took it upon himself to do so.
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Former Indian pacer and 2011 World Cup winner Sreesanth did not take kindly to Doull’s comments and went on to assert that the Kiwis just got lucky during the semi-final of the 2019 World Cup, especially as they got to send away former skipper MS Dhoni on a lucky direct-hit run-out when he was blazing through the Black Caps’ bowling ranks.
“New Zealand are coming to India. They will get to know if India play attacking cricket or not. We will thrash them. They got lucky in 2019 with MS Dhoni getting run out due to a direct hit.
“What did you do after playing the final? They made a team like England win the World Cup, who hadn’t won a 50-over World Cup until then. New Zealand are never going to win. Yes, they might win in the future, but it will be embarrassing for them this time. If you get a chance address the media, please think before you speak. If you are ready to give, you should be able to take it also.” Sreesanth said.
“I just want to tell Simon Doull that Indians are going to have a blast against New Zealand. New Zealand are going to learn a lot against India. Yes, there have been certain matches where they have done well against us, especially in ICC events. But those times have gone now. If any of these cricketers get to know what you said, and if Virat is made aware of it, it will be a lot of fun to watch that match,” he added.
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