Dhoni and his men should look ahead
By: Subhadeep Bhattacharjee
If anybody had doubts about India's poor form and second round exit in the T20 World Cup the last match against South Africa was a certificate of their form. With the defeat against the Proteas, Dhoni and his men made three in a row to add to their woes. The only two wins came against minnows Bangladesh and ICC qualifiers Ireland. Bangladesh in fact gave them a scare in the match until Pragyan Ojha turned it for India.
The men in dark blue who seemed invincible in T20's first edition in South Africa looked horribly ordinary in second edition of the tournament. The defending champions authority was nowhere there in their game and they struggled in all their super eight matches. The Indian team had perhaps saved their worst for the last match when they were unable to chase mere 131 runs after a good opening stand and an awesome performance by their bowlers.
The blame game has already started and the coach Gary Kirsten has blamed the IPL for the exhaustion of the Indian players. The question now arises is why these issues were not raised before the start of the tournament? Why are these being talked about now when the team has exited from the tournament? To remind Mr Gary Kirsten the Indian team which won the crown last time had come out of a exhausting tour of England and nobody had raised any issues then.
The sole problem for the team has been their form in all the three departments of the game. Inconsistent batting, blunt bowling and pathetic fielding led to the humiliation. A player's form doesn't depend on the number of matches he plays. Had the players needed rest why did they not pull out of the IPL? The BCCI would have definitely made the different franchises release players keeping in mind the T20 World Cup. The players who are at their 20s should not be talking about fatigue and exhaustion.
Let the Indian team as well as the fans accept that this was a poor show by the team in the tournament. Instead of issuing apologies and making lame excuses which won't calm down the anger of the fans the team should look ahead to the upcoming West Indies tour.
The men in dark blue who seemed invincible in T20's first edition in South Africa looked horribly ordinary in second edition of the tournament. The defending champions authority was nowhere there in their game and they struggled in all their super eight matches. The Indian team had perhaps saved their worst for the last match when they were unable to chase mere 131 runs after a good opening stand and an awesome performance by their bowlers.
The blame game has already started and the coach Gary Kirsten has blamed the IPL for the exhaustion of the Indian players. The question now arises is why these issues were not raised before the start of the tournament? Why are these being talked about now when the team has exited from the tournament? To remind Mr Gary Kirsten the Indian team which won the crown last time had come out of a exhausting tour of England and nobody had raised any issues then.
The sole problem for the team has been their form in all the three departments of the game. Inconsistent batting, blunt bowling and pathetic fielding led to the humiliation. A player's form doesn't depend on the number of matches he plays. Had the players needed rest why did they not pull out of the IPL? The BCCI would have definitely made the different franchises release players keeping in mind the T20 World Cup. The players who are at their 20s should not be talking about fatigue and exhaustion.
Let the Indian team as well as the fans accept that this was a poor show by the team in the tournament. Instead of issuing apologies and making lame excuses which won't calm down the anger of the fans the team should look ahead to the upcoming West Indies tour.
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