Former India opener and part of the 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 ICC World Cup winning teams, Virender Sehwag has pointed out one thing that is missing from the current Team India dressing room, that can help them win the ICC Trophy.
The BCCI recently named the 15-member India squad for the T20 World Cup 2024 which will be captained by Rohit Sharma.
India last won an ICC trophy in 2013 and since then has faltered in the final of the T20 World Cup in 2014 and the ICC World Cup in 2023. They reached the semis of the 2016 and 2022 T20 World Cups and the 2015 and 2019 World Cups.
They also lost the finals of both ICC World Test Championships they qualified for. Their last ICC final loss was to Australia at home in Ahmedabad, when they were demolished by the Pat Cummins-led side in the final of the 2023 World Cup event.
Virender Sehwag spoke about the Indian team’s loss and stressed the need to be fearless in approach.
"If I look back the last ODI World Cup final that we lost to Australia, nobody played fearless cricket between the 11th and the 40th over; we hit only one or two fours,” Sehwag said at an event, the video of which went viral.
Captain Rohit Sharma was going great guns after the Australians put India in to bat at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. But after scoring 47 off 30 balls, the skipper fell on the next ball to Glenn Maxwell. Despite the fifties by Virat Kohli and KL Rahul, the Indian innings couldn’t get any momentum and were bundled out for 240.
Then an unbeaten fifty by Marnus Labuschagne and a scintillating century by Travis Head handed Australia a smooth win and their sixth World Cup title.
"I can give my example. When I was part of the team, from 2007-08 to the 2011 (ODI) World Cup, we used to treat every match as a knockout match, a World Cup semifinal; if we lost, we were out (of the tournament). So from 2007-08 to 2011, we won a lot of tournaments and prepared for the World Cup. So maybe the Indian team can do that and play every match as if it is a knockout match, that if we lose, we are out. So the mindset changes," Sehwag explained.
"I think that mindset is needed in that (Indian) dressing room when you go into a knockout match, you play fearlessly, with bravery, play with some risk. That, I think is lacking,” he concluded.
Here is the video:
