It's been a decade since Team India last won an ICC tournament. After MS Dhoni led the side to a Champions Trophy triumph in 2013, India have lost as many as four ICC event finals and bowed out in the semi-finals on numerous occasions.
While Virat Kohli took the team to great heights in Test cricket, he failed to clinch an ICC trophy. The same has been the case with current skipper Rohit Sharma, under whom the team lost the T20 World Cup semi-final to England last year. Earlier this month, the Rohit-led side also suffered a crushing 209-run defeat at the hands of Australia in the WTC final at The Oval.
Despite the success in bilateral series, the search for the elusive ICC title goes on. As a result, the current crop of Indian players are dealing with the tag of “chokers”.
In an interview with The Week, former India head coach Ravi Shastri was asked about the tag and he replied by saying that the blame cannot be put on any individual as the team has achieved massive feats over the years.
“I would not say that. I mean, these two teams that were playing [India and Australia] were the only two teams that had a chance to win all three World Cups. And it is not that we have been rolled over [at World Cups]. We have been in semi-finals, we have been in finals. We have not got it because when you want to win the big one, you need a combined effort. You cannot blame one individual, one captain,” Shastri stated.
According to Shastri, India lost the WTC 2023 final against Australia as none of their batters played a big knock.
“You need 100s in a World Cup, World Test Championship final. Then you have a good chance of setting it up for the bowlers and winning the trophy. If you do not get a 100, you need at least three 50s, whether it is Test, T20 or one-day cricket. If you have not done that, you do not deserve to win,” he remarked.
While the Indian team is considered one of the favourites for the ODI World Cup at home later this year, it remains to be seen whether Rohit and his men managed to end the ICC trophy drought or not.
