Another world cup, same story. The Indian cricket team raised hopes only to see their campaign disintegrate with a whimper against England in the semifinal. A team full of match-winners, high-quality individual players, experienced T20 campaigners but a global trophy remains elusive. On Thursday, whatever could go wrong, went wrong for Rohit Sharma and co as they succumbed to an abject defeat in Adelaide exiting the T20 World Cup 2022 in a disappointing fashion.
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Yet another failed campaign at an ICC event will force the team management to conduct a post-mortem like in the past but this time, they will have to take some brave/harsh decisions to set the pathway for the future.
Here are five takeaways from the campaign:-
Required: A New Opening Pair
7/1, 11/1, 23/1, 11/1, 27/1, 9/1. Six failures in a row from KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma. A team hoping to dominate the world cannot afford so many failures and at such an alarming consistency.
The Indian opening pair seems formidable on paper but it crashed and burned in Australia. There was a lot of noise around change in template but for that to happen, you need the right tools.
Not once did they manage to last four overs on the pitch together. Every time the middle-order had to come to India’s rescue. Even the much criticised Pakistan’s opening duo of Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam came good twice in crunch games including a century stand in the semifinals against New Zealand. Alex Hales and Jos Buttler, the English opening pair, then put up a masterclass on how openers should bat. The Indian team management has to move on from Rohit and Rahul, for good. The next world cup is still two years away – plenty of time to groom youngsters into the role.
Kohli Remains The Fulcrum
There were murmurs when Virat Kohli was struggling regarding whether he deserves a spot in India’s T20I eleven. With four half-centuries in six innings, he has shut those discussions for good. Critics might still point out his scoring rate but considering the situation he has often found himself – walking inside the Powerplay, trying to lead a recovery and ensuring the batting doesn’t collapse. He’s required in his line-up more than ever to add an assuredness and give others who can to play freely without worrying about wickets falling at on end.
Give Pandya The Captaincy
He’s bowling at full pelt. His batting was never in question. He has proven his captaincy credentials by winning the IPL title with a debutant franchise. What more Hardik Pandya should do to get the top job? India moved on from Kohli to Rohit in hopes of landing an ICC title after years of wait. It’s likely that Rohit might not be around (at least in T20Is) when the next T20 World Cup will be played considering the current captain will be in his late 30s. Pandya will only get better. Give him time to grow into the role and win the confidence of the players. Let him build his own team.
Needed: A Dependable Spinner(s)
Ravichandran Ashwin did an admirable job at the world cup but it seems that the Indian team management wants to move on from the senior bowler. Why else would they not include him in either of their white-ball squads for the upcoming tour of New Zealand and Bangladesh? Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Chahal have been reunited. Hopefully, the duo will get an extended run before being separated again. Strangely enough the young Ravi Bishnoi hasn’t found a place in either of the white-ball squads as well.
Jadeja & Bumrah Indispensable
It was unfortunate that two of their biggest names got injured so close to the world cup. Allrounder Ravindra Jadeja and pace ace Jasprit Bumrah both got injured and were ruled out of the entire tournament. While Bumrah’s replacement is nearly impossible to find, it was thought that Axar Patel might fill in for Jadeja to an extent. While Mohammed Shami, who was promoted into the main squad from traveling reserves to fill the big hole left by Bumrah’s absence, did well, Axar had a forgettable tournament. He managed 9 runs from 3 innings and bowled just 13.2 overs in five matches taking 3 wickets in them.
Keeping this in mind and another world cup next year, the BCCI will have to manage the workload of Bumrah and Jadeja even more carefully since they regularly feature in all three formats. Not to forget they are indispensable to their respective franchises in IPL as well.
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