Performance of Indian cricket team in the recently concluded twenty20 world cup 2009 was disappointing and there is no doubt about it. Starting as a hot favorite, team India just failed to reach the semi final, having lost all three Super Eight matches. The interesting thing is that India was not among the favorites of 2007 twenty20 world cup, but Dhoni and his men still managed to lift the title. Obviously, there are some reasons behind India’s failure to live up to the expectations the fans in the second edition of twenty20 world cup:
1. First of all, almost all the Indian players were not at their very best physically. Due to tight schedule of IPL 2009, Indian players were suffering from fatigue. You might argue with me, but then just look at the Pakistani cricketers who did not take part in IPL 2009. Even Pakistani cricketers did not play many cricket matches over the last six months due to their tumultuous security condition in the country.
2. Another big reason behind India’s biggest strength is the failure of their top order batsmen against short ball, a traditional problem of Indian batsmen. Indian batsmen got some success in Australia and South Africa over the last five or six years, but their problem against short ball once again appeared during the twenty20 world cup 2009.
BCCI has become so much obsessed with its money-spinning IPL project that it has forgotten its duties for team India. I just hope that BCCI would now realize the time has come to make India’s traditionally flat wickets more sporting and bouncy in what would bring out some success in the long run.
3. Virender Sehwag’s absence is another big reason behind India’s demise in twenty20 world cup. Sehwag may not have a very good record in twenty20 cricket, but he is such a batsman who can change matches single-handedly. Naturally, his absence was naturally a big deal for team India.
4. There is no doubt, captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni guided India to win the twenty20 world cup two years back, but the wicketkeeper batsman must take some responsibility of India’s failure in the recent tournament. Dhoni took some poor decisions which was later on proven lethal for Indian team.
For example, Dhoni hardly used Suresh Raina’s spin bowling, despite Raina’s excellent success with ball in IPL 2009 for Chennai Super Kings. Dhoni did not give Harbhajan Singh a second over in his first spell against West Indies, even though the spinner started with maiden over. In the same match, Dhoni did not give Irfan Pathan a third over, even though he conceded only 9 runs in his first two overs. These kinds of silly mistakes contributed to India’s failure in the tournament.
5. Poor fielding was also a reason which contributed to India’s disappointing performance in the tournament. I can still remember some of the BCCI officials complained about Sourav Ganguly’s fielding ability towards the end of his international career, and claimed that Indian team needed young players to improve the overall fielding. However, to everyone’s distress, the young Indian fielders were not impressive at all in the twenty20 world cup 2009, except an excellent catch by Yuvraj Singh against Bangladesh. Captain Dhoni missed some stamping chances. Moreover, India’s ground fielding was also very disappointing.
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