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. Last 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 cricket, the search for the elusive ICC title goes on and the Indian team will get another opportunity to end the trophy drought in the ODI World Cup at home later this year.
So, when Rohit Sharma was asked as to what he thinks has been the final puzzle missing in the Indian team, his response was, “Firstly I want all my players to be available. I want all of them to be 100 percent. We don’t want any injury concerns.”
The Indian captain’s remark came while addressing the media on the eve of the first Test against the West Indies, starting July 12 in Dominica.
With less than three months to go for the 50-over World Cup, the Men in Blue are sweating over the fitness of some of their key players like Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer while Rishabh Pant is undergoing rehabilitation after surviving a horrific car crash last December.
Commenting on India’s dismal run in the ICC events, Rohit said: “We’ve not crossed the line in a long time. But I feel, as long as you keep ticking the boxes and keep doing the right things, it will all fall into place. Over the years, we’ve done a lot of good things. It’s just that sometimes you want luck to be by your side as well. If you look over last five-six years, we’ve played consistent cricket. We’ve won everywhere. But yeah, winning championship is more important. Until we get that championship, we’re going to keep fighting for it.”
The Test series against the West Indies will mark the beginning of India’s campaign in the WTC 2023-25 cycle.
“Every series you play for India is challenging. Whether it’s the first game of a WTC cycle or the last. Every game is important. We played two WTC cycles and two finals but couldn’t win what we wanted to. But this is a new opportunity,” Rohit stated.
The skipper also suggested that adjusting with the new players at hand will be a different challenge for the team in this WTC cycle.
“(It’s) a new team. Many new players have come in and will keep coming. That’s going to be a separate challenge in itself in this cycle. A good challenge. And to begin it against the West Indies….they play well at home. Their past record at their home grounds has been very good, so it will be a good challenge for our team. I’ll hope we live up to it and play well.”
(The Indian Express Inputs)
