T20: Changes Needed In The Team
The India Commentary view
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By Our Editorial Team
First publised on 2022-11-11 02:32:57
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The India Commentary view
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India's sketchy T20 World Cup campaign came to a crashing and embarrassing end when they were comprehensively beaten by a clinical England by 10 wickets in the semi-finals. Nothing went right for the Indians in the game and even their body language, both while batting and fielding, was not of a team that wanted to win. This is what was most amazing for a team that had made the semi-finals despite underperforming throughout the group stage. One would have thought that they would strategize, give their best and make the most of the opportunity. But that was not to be as India could not raise their game. The added excitement of playing Pakistan in a dream final for winning the trophy also failed to energize the Men in Blue.
More than a post mortem of the semi-final, what is now needed is for the BCCI to go for a complete reset. Although Rohit Sharma said in the post-match interview that handling pressure cannot be taught, he was not helming a bunch of novices. All 11 players in his team are seasoned campaigners who have been there and seen all. If they cannot handle pressure, no Indian player can. The fact is that the Indian team did not play to potential, as it has not been playing all through the tournament. It gave chances to players, including skipper Rohit Sharma, who were struggling and that is not done in a World Cup. Sharma's captaincy was also uninspiring.
It has to be recognized that the T20 format needs youngsters in the team. While it can be argued that currently the best T20 player in the world, Suryakumar Yadav, is 32 but he has flowered late and there are always exceptions. Due to the IPL, India has good bench strength and talent is waiting to be discovered. The BCCI must think of the future and build a new T20 team from scratch with, perhaps, Hardik Pandya as captain. He has already been appointed stop-gap captain for the New Zealand tour as the seniors have been rested. Maybe the time has come to make him the regular captain in the shortest format.
