Last Updated: July 08, 2023, 13:11 IST
India lost in the final of WTC last month. (Pic Credit: BCCI)
2013 was the last time India won an ICC tournament and since then, despite boasting of a world-class team on several occasions, they have failed to win a global event
The Indian team has been guilty of committing ‘basic errors’ that have proved costly at the ICC events resulting in the continuing trophy drought dating back to 2013 when they last won a global tournament.
With MS Dhoni stepping down and Virat Kohli taking his place as the captain across formats, India remained a dominant force in world cricket especially in bilateral series but the impact hasn’t been felt in multi-nation tournaments despite them making the finals on multiple occasions.
The story seemingly continues with Rohit Sharma who succeeded Kohli into the role with India exiting the 2022 T20 World Cup in the semifinals before losing to Australia in the World Test Championship final last month.
Former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif though believes that the team does miss Dhoni’s Midas touch, they still have a quality captain in Rohit Sharma and a legend in Rahul Dravid as coach that make them capable of winning ICC titles.
“Dhoni has done well. I believe the likes of Rohit Sharma and all these guys are good captains. You have Rahul Dravid as a coach, what else do you want?” Kaif said on DD India’s Virtual Encounter.
“…you miss Dhoni because he has done so well in ICC events but I think someone like Rohit Sharma can take the team forward. He has got the players and the team to win ICC events,” he added.
Kaif then cited how India made an error by not picking Yuzvendra Chahal in 2021 T20 World Cup squad and then pushing him down the pecking order when they did take him to Australia for the marquee event in 2022.
“They have made mistakes, you went to Australia, you picked Ashwin ahead of Chahal. Chahal was in your scheme of things in T20Is. You dropped Chahal and picked Ashwin. So you have been making all these basic mistakes,” Kaif said.
“That’s why you talk about MS Dhoni because he knows who to play in the first XI. The major strength of Dhoni is backing his players. I think that’s what the Indian team is probably missing right now,” he added.
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