I would just like to summarize India’s campaign in the ICC World Twenty20 in one word – Self-destruction !
Mr Cool & the captain of the team Mr Dhoni led from the front to ensure that the campaign is ended in a disastrous mode. Another defeat at the hands of South Africa put a final nail in the coffin, which was already prepared when India lost to England in the second Super Eight game earlier.
During the entire course of the tournament, it always seemed like very few players actually cared about win. It was visible from the appearance of quite a few players and most notably Dhoni, that they are playing in a pub tournament and not in the world cup. Many decisions that were taken were weird and lacked common sense. The matches were lost from a potential winnable position.
I am sure there will be an angry reaction back home in India after the performance of the team in this campaign.
I just hope, the public do not go insane and do silly things. After all, we need to keep in mind that this is a game and not a matter of life & death.
Apparently the effigies of the players have been burnt back home and people have come out on streets protesting the way the team performed. Just the reflection of the hope everyone carried and how the hope came down crashing during last 2 weeks or so.
There were few bright sparks in the performance, most notably from Yuvraaj Singh, who once again showed that he carries the team on his shoulder and India always do well when he plays well. It was unfortunate that he did not get proper support from other so called marquee players when we needed most. Rohit Sharma did well and did not let the absence of Sehwag be an issue at the top. Ojha also enhanced his reputation during this tournament as a sensible spin bowler. So its not all doom & gloom for India and we can look forward to build a good team again.
Few visible problems that would require BCCI to intervene and sort out would be to get rid of the supposed rift within the team. It was really unfortunate to see in today’s match the rift between Dhoni, Yuvraaj. The run out of Dhoni was a complete lack of coordination and when Harbhajan got Dhoni as his runner, the following 3-4 balls turned the game upside down and got India virtually out of the game as Harbhajan & Yuvraaj both got out. The way the entire Sehwag episode was handled and he was sent back, looked suspicious to everyone.
I would hate to say that, but it is apparent that success has got into the head of Dhoni and he looked too overconfident in the decisions he took during the matches at various stages. I just hope its not true and as a true fan, would believe in the theory of IPL taking its toll on them and having fatigue as an issue.
I would hope this defeat will put some sanity in the heads of BCCI authorities and selectors about the policy they need to follow in future tournaments. After all, even if the players are supposed to be professionals, you can not expect them to perform at highest level consistently week after week without having a proper break.
IPL was supposed to be a gold mine for new players to make their name in the international tournament and I hoped the IPL II to provide few. There were few really good players who players real good cricket but were not given chance in the world cup and India went with traditional tried & tested team. The new players could possibly have played with bit more passion and aggression than Dhohi and co, I would have thought !
Anyways, enough of bashing and time to turn attention to somewhere else, where chances of success are more !
Hey, what about supporting India Women team who are into Semi finals of ICC Womens World Twenty20 and have a good chance to show the boys how its done !!
All the best to you girls! I just hope you do well!