 "WTC Final")
Mohammed Siraj played the reverse sweep straight into the hands of Scott Boland at backward point and Nathan Lyon celebrated as Australia won the World Test Championship 2023. They became the first team to complete the quartet of all ICC trophies.
India had the chance to achieve the same feat, but they messed up once again in an ICC event. This was the eighth occasion in which India failed to win a knockout game since 2013. The last time they won an ICC event was the Champions Trophy 2013 against England.
Since these failures have come in different formats, it is difficult to draw a pattern, but certain mistakes are present across formats and they are mostly mental than mistakes on the ground.
2014 T20 World Cup Final: Playing slow and not responding to the situations
India had to bat first and the dew played a major role. The approach of the Indian batters and Yuvraj Singh in particular was dismal as he scored 11 off 20 balls during death overs. Apart from Virat Kohli, others weren’t scoring fast either.
As a result, the team could get to only 130. And 130 cannot be defended in April in Dhaka. The lack of fearlessness became the reason for failure.
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2015 ODI World Cup Semi-final: Australia too good, Virat failing big time
Defending champions India were unbeaten in the tournament before reaching the final. They were the favourites because the match was at SCG and India had two quality spinners. However, Steve Smith’s brilliance with the bat negated the spin and Australia mounted 328.
Virat was India’s biggest hope if they were to chase the target down. But pressure got the better of the Indian batter and he scored only one. India were bowled out for 233.
2016 T20 World Cup Semi-final: Failing to be fearless, missing the chances
While Team India could hardly get any chance in the 2015 World Cup Semi-Final. In the semi-final, they had the chance. They were slow while batting no doubt as Kohli did not go from ball one and Rahane was too slow for a pitch like Wankheded striking at 117 even after having faced 35 balls. India however reached 192, which is a decent target.
Bowling and fielding were a big letdown as India bowled two no-balls and both resulted in a wicket. On both occasions, it was Lendl Simmons the beneficiary, who went on to score 81 off 51 and helped his team chase the target.
2017 Champions Trophy Final: Fielding first at Oval, negative captaincy approach
The no-ball demons were out yet again as Jasprit Bumrah got Fakhar Zaman out, but it was a no-ball and later on, the Pakistan batter scored a century. But the match was lost in the mids even before that. India decided to field first at the Oval, the most spin-friendly ground in England on a sunny morning
Chasing the target of 339, India were already under huge pressure and the fall of Rohit Sharma early on only increased that for skipper Virat Kohli, who yet again bottled in an ODI knockout chase.
2019 ODI World Cup Semi-final: Chose wrong playing order and the persisting problem of playing swing
Back in England again, India’s problem of not knowing which batter to send when and Virat Kohli’s problem of playing against the three-quarter length ball swinging away from him were the biggest reasons why India failed to win again. MS Dhoni’s slow approach was the major add-on.
India were brilliant with the ball as they bowled out the Kiwis for 239 in two days. But the problem with the ball swinging away came back to haunt them as Kohli, Rohit and Rahul all got out similarly. Vijay Shankar was taken as a 3-D player to the World Cup, but none of his three skills were used as he was not played in the semis. Dhoni and Jadeja seemed like winning it for India, only to buckle up under pressure.
2021 World Test Championship Final: Wrong team selection, problems against swing
Since the 2017 Champions Trophy, India’s problems against away swing from right-arm seamers and in-swing from left-arm ones never ended. It was the case in the 2019 ODI World Cup semis and it followed in the inaugural World Test Championship Final, once again held in Southampton, England.
India went in once again with pore-determined playing 11, not keeping in mind the circumstances. The captain did not react according to the situation and played both the spinners where one could have been enough with the conditions overcast and the ball swinging. But spinners were not the biggest failure, it was the batters overall and their inability to tackle spin.
2022 T20 World Cup Semi-final: Too few runs for England to chase
India just could not get going. Their approach was very slow with the bat and against a team which plays Baseball even in Test cricket. The target of 169 was always going to be short. And it turned out to be exactly that as the Indian bowlers failed to get even a single wicket.
Once again, the reasons are on a similar line. Not playing fearlessly with the bat, choosing the playing 11 with a pre-determined mind and failing to react according to situations.
2023 World Test Championship Final: Failure to choose right and the eternal failure of batters against swinging ball
It was a summarisation of all previous failures that led to the latest loss in an ICC knockout. The Indian team did not choose the right team by keeping Ravichandran Ashwin out. He could have played in place of Umesh Yadav. It is a different thing that he too might not have been effective. But the fact that India failed to play its best bowler in WTC 2021-23, was a grave mistake.
Choosing to field first when the forecast for the entire five days of the match was clear sunshine was yet another mistake. Again, India might have been rolled over for 200 batting first, but that is being said in hindsight. On the face of it, the decision to field first was wrong and showed immaturity and predetermination on the part of Indian management.
Conclusion
To conclude, India’s failure to be fearless with the bat and its inability to not take decisions with pre-conceived notions are the biggest reasons for their failure. But added to that is its inability to adapt to react according to situations and learn to bat in swing-friendly conditions.
