Despite the high octane blitz and the gung-ho on the part of the richest cricket board in the world ( BCCI) , Virat Kohli and his men crashed out of yet another ICC tournament – T20 World Cup 2021 on a disappointing note . Under Captain Virat Kohli and Head Coach Ravi Shastri, India failed to win any ICC tournament during their tenure . This bitter truth will hurt surely . If one chooses to ignore the reality then one can do nothing.
Before the latest debacle India had lost WTC final to New Zealand and again the losing to the Kiwis at the 2019 ICC World Cup semis in England. . Ironically It was the Kiwis who by beating Afghanistan ensured India not reaching the semi- finals of the T20 World Cup 2021.
What will rankle Indian fans is that India despite playing IPL – 2021 the second leg ( September 19 – October 15) after the first half was cancelled due to Covid -19 failed to adjust to the conditions. It clearly exposed BCCI’s tall claims that Indian players will benefit by playing the IPL for the T20 World Cup 2021. Instead of benefitting, it appeared that Indian players were jaded and a tired lot . It showed in their performances .
Moreover, many news channels and experts went over the top and created a false narrative that the T20 World Cup 2021 is India’s and they just need to go there and one hand of India is already on the cup. Pakistan is no rival. History is against them against India In World Cup’s and it will remain that way . But that exuberance fizzled out on the match day.
To the shock and awe of cricket fans , a fearless Pakistan led astutely by Babar Azam and the fiery left left arm pace of Shaheen Shah Afridi had the last laugh. Pakistan outclassed India in all departments of the game . The 10 wicket rout shattered the morale of team India . And it was left to the clinical Kane Williamson’s New Zealand to hammer India’s chances further with a thumping 8 wicket win. The much talked about Indian batting crumbled against Trent Boult, Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi . Indian batsmen are known to play well against spin but their abject surrender to Santner and Sodhi stunned fans. In the same match, Rohit Sharma came in at three ( after dismissed for zero by a Shaheen Shah Afridi) raising doubt that he feared facing Trent Boult. Boult had him first ball with a mistimed hook but Adam Milne dropped it. Otherwise Sharma would have had a dubious distinction of golden duck in two big games. These twin losses cost India dearly and ultimately saw India crash out later on.
Virat Kohli had ended his tenure as T20I skipper on a dismal note . His future as ODI skipper hangs in balance . With new head coach , former India skipper and batting legend Rahul Dravid set to take over from Ravi Shastri, there is no comfort zone for Kohli now. The baffling benching of senior spinner Ravichandran Ashwin right through the Tests in England and till the match against Afghanistan has not gone down well. This is no way to treat the team’s most experienced spinner . The hype around Hardik Pandya should now stop. He cannot be a Kapil Dev in his lifetime . The iconic Haryana Hurricane never had this poor level of fitness that Pandya has . He was a disaster. Having flopped against Pakistan and New Zealand, it is a joke literally when some say he has found his form back by scoring against Afghanistan. Kohli’s arrogance , team selection hurt India big time .
After India exit, IPL is facing the brunt of the attack. The most upfront comment of India’s T20World Cup 2021 came from the 1983 World Cup winning iconic all- rounder Kapil Dev. The Haryana Hurricane was quoted as saying that certain cricketers prefer playing the Indian Premier League and do not give importance to representing the country first, and explained that the BCCI needs to look into it. Although Kapil insisted that he is not against the idea of cricketers playing franchise cricket, the order should be the other way round.
“When players prioritise IPL over playing for the country, we what can we say. Players should take pride in playing for their nation. I don’t know their financial conditions so can’t say much. But I feel that first in line should be the country’s team and then franchises. I’m not saying do not play cricket there (for the franchise), but the responsibility is now on the BCCI to plan its cricket better. To not repeat mistakes we committed in this tournament is the biggest learning for us,” added Kapil.
Kapil’s IPL comment appears valid. As the Indian players skipped the fifth Test against England at Oval citing Covid and immediately by chartered flights arranged by respective franchises flew to Dubai to enter the quarantine period in UAE. Former England skipper Michael Vaughan then in a tweet took a dig at the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) after Indian pacer Thangarasu Natarajan tested positive for COVID-19 hours before the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 match between Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Delhi Capitals (DC) . He slammed the BCCI and recalled how the 5th and final Test of the India-England series was called off due to the COVID-19 crisis at the Indian camp in Manchester.
Let’s see if the IPL gets cancelled like the last Test !!!!! I guarantee it won’t be … #OnOn https://t.co/HV7V70i69x
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) September 22, 2021
“Let’s see if the IPL gets cancelled like the last Test !!!!! I guarantee it won’t be … #OnOn,” the former England skipper tweeted. On Instagram, Vaughan shared the same post and explained why IPL will continue in the UAE after the first COVID-19 scare for the second leg of the 14th season. “Tongue in cheek .. but it’s proof that where a huge amount of money is at stake things carry on,” Vaughan wrote on Instagram.
Outgoing bowling coach Bharat Arun on India’s exit from T20WorldCup 2021 was quoted as saying: “Ideally, a short break between the IPL and T20 World Cup would have been ideal. I am not giving any excuses. These players have been on the road for the last six months and with the bubble life, it is never easy.”
Fair enough, does this not explain the poor planning by the BCCI. Sourav Ganguly and Jay Shah owe an explanation to the nation why after the five-match Test series against England the second half of the IPL was squeezed in. What was the desperation to complete the IPL? If Tokyo could wait for Olympics for year why not host IPL next year at home?. These are questions BCCI needs to answer.
It is high time the BCCI decides and points out what is their priority – National pride or IPL ? The early exit from the T20 World Cup2021 is a slap on BCCI’s arrogance. It was indeed shocking to see that the day after Pakistan routed India by 10 wickets , the likes of BCCI president Sourav Ganguly , Secretary Jay Shah, Vice- president Rajeev Shukla appeared unfazed and were instead upbeat about two news – Lucknow and Ahmedabad joining the IPL bandwagon and making it 10 team affair from 2022. Thereby raising question on their agenda IPL over ICC trophies.
Yes, IPL is popular and yes it has become a big brand . Credit to Lalit Modi for creating IPL . The BCCI mandarins after Lalit Modi’s exit have only taken forward or rather appropriated his vision . One hopes that BCCI after this latest humiliation does some homework and plan for Team India’s future with proper scheduling. If not then BCCI should be ready for tough questions and brickbats from fans and critics alike . BCCI at the end of the day needs professionalism and not simply Dadagiri .
