Will Ind make this decade count?

[zen]

This is relatively speaking, one of the things that I notice with teams such as Australia is that its players appear to pass the "learnings" on from one generation to the next. Which is why we rarely see them make too many basic mistakes. They can lose if the opponent plays well or when they play badly but it is usually not due to bad decisions taken before a game which include team selection (based on availability of players), toss related initiatives, etc. For e.g., rarely do we see Aus captains decide to bowl first in important LOI games. In tests, they usually prefer to bat first even in difficult conditions. One can almost take it for granted that teams like Aus will not make strategic errors in general (there can be exceptions). 

 

Coming to teams like India, one gets a feeling that the team is starting from fresh in every tournament. In 1987 WC at home, Ind won the toss but elected to field. It lost the game. In 1996 WC despite playing at Kolkata, Ind won the toss and elected to field (going by opponent's strength), 2003 WC F, and in 2017 CT, Ind won the toss and elected to field (though Kumble tried to pass the learnings on). Against Asian teams, we may play two spinners when we may have wicket taking pacers, etc. You are never confident with Ind's pre game strategies. 

 

I am hoping that Ind is able to build a learning system that tries to leverage on past experiences and develop general guidelines. Every coach and captain should work towards adding to these guidelines - so the learnings get compounded.  If captains/coaches want to go against these guidelines in a particular game, they should show good reasons for that decision. Having said that players should also be prepared to take on challenges irrespective of the toss. It should be like if we win the toss, we will go with x. If not, it still does not matter. 

 

 

With that out of the way, I hope that Ind is able to achieve something meaningful this decade (2020s) as it has the team and resources. Kohli and company haven't done too well in major tournaments when it comes to winning it but that should not be seen as a monkey on their back. Let us look at some of our past players:

 

• Ganguly, Dravid and Kumble - only won CT 2002 despite making it to various finals 
• Tendulkar - won CT 2002 and the world cup in 2011 (in his 6th attempt)
• The team was knocked out in the first round in 2007. IIRC in 1999, Ind finished last in Super 6 behind Zim

 

 

Therefore, there are no reasons to lose heart and the team can look forward to opportunities to turn things around. This decade is promising esp. considering that the team will get a lot more opportunities (and therefore can gain experience) due to an increase in the frequency of these tournaments. The pressure of playing knockout should eventually get less too as another tournament is usually around the corner. At the end of the day, there can be a lot of factors going for the team. 

 

Will Ind make this decade count or is it heading towards becoming a England in football (soccer) - EPL (IPL) focused? 

Edited August 22, 2020 by zen

[Lone Wolf]

First half the decade looks screwed with lolli as captain.  We will continue to field oldies.  Maybe some change after 2023.

[G_B_]

not under Kohli and Shatri thats for sure

 

we will reach semis and finals and then choke.

 

 

[Stan AF]

Captaincy and conflict of interests have taken a turn for the worse since Dhoni era. We all know it we just don't say it. Any other country a team whose franchise got banned would never ever been allowed to even being considered for the national post. And now coming to Kohli, he is being continued with captaincy mainly because of his commercial interests and not based on results. He's already lost CT 2017 and didn't even qualify for the WC finals while a smaller much capable Kiwi Williamson led his side to the finals.So, That's 2 strikes against Kohli already. The next T20 WC will be the last straw for him which ideally should have rohit as the captain if we want to have any chance.

 

In the test format, Kohli can be given a rope till 2021 WTC. If he fails to either qualify for the final or win the damn trophy he should be sacked as captain from the test format first. He's already lost the #1 ranking which is a major strike against him and he's been continously losing series overseas left, right and centre. 2 more strikes. He's the captain since 2015 and it's time to select a new one. 7 years is more than a good time to judge his captaincy.

 

In a nutshell, changes should start at the top starting from the captain and the team needs a major rehaul in all the 3 formats.

 

I have absolutely no hope in either of the above happening. Fans should consider the distinct possibility that we may not even qualify for either the WTC Final or the T20 WC knockouts.

[Stan AF]

And almost forgot, Ravi Shastri has no business being a coach. The sooner we get rid of the guy, the better.

[Gollum]

Indian cricket needs a major shock now, fixing saga propelled us to better standards and 2007 WC loss (+sucking in tests under Chappell) laid the foundation for our 2007-11WC success. But then our players had self-respect, not sure about this bunch which laughs and dances after getting humiliated on the field. 

 

Post 0-8 I have lost hope in test humiliation shaking things up. So maybe a couple of zabardast humiliations in upcoming T20 WCs will have the desired effect. By qualifying to SF they are escaping scrutiny. I want my team to win trophies but if they don't better be a group stage exit than another KO appearance where Kohli has his list of excuses ready. Better lose all the group matches, including against Ireland/Aghanistan and become laughing stock of the world. Maybe that way system will be forced to change. 

Edited August 21, 2020 by Gollum

[VT87]

Until king of choker k@@li departs, maybe they will make Rohit as a captain but I know this leach never let this happen. I have lost total interest in Indian cricket after 2017ct and 2019wc debacle. Brace yourself to another humiliating loss in front of our home crowd. 

[Lone Wolf]

4 hours ago, Stan AF said:

Captaincy and conflict of interests have taken a turn for the worse since Dhoni era. We all know it we just don't say it. Any other country a team whose franchise got banned would never ever been allowed to even being considered for the national post. And now coming to Kohli, he is being continued with captaincy mainly because of his commercial interests and not based on results. He's already lost CT 2017 and didn't even qualify for the WC finals while a smaller much capable Kiwi Williamson led his side to the finals.So, That's 2 strikes against Kohli already. The next T20 WC will be the last straw for him which ideally should have rohit as the captain if we want to have any chance.

 

In the test format, Kohli can be given a rope till 2021 WTC. If he fails to either qualify for the final or win the damn trophy he should be sacked as captain from the test format first. He's already lost the #1 ranking which is a major strike against him and he's been continously losing series overseas left, right and centre. 2 more strikes. He's the captain since 2015 and it's time to select a new one. 7 years is more than a good time to judge his captaincy.

 

In a nutshell, changes should start at the top starting from the captain and the team needs a major rehaul in all the 3 formats.

 

I have absolutely no hope in either of the above happening. Fans should consider the distinct possibility that we may not even qualify for either the WTC Final or the T20 WC knockouts.

If we don't win either WTC & T20 WC this time only solution is boycott this team & IPl.  Superstar culture needs to be scrapped.  Lolli & Shastri need to be humiliated by fans.  Ganguly too. 

[cricketfan28]

I don't think so, our mental department is not world class.

[zen]

8 hours ago, Lone Wolf said:

Superstar culture needs to be scrapped.  Lolli & Shastri need to be humiliated by fans.  Ganguly too. 

Superstars are made by fans. Many fans relate supporting a select group of players to patriotism (fake if it is the only avenue where they display it), when they could write against Mahatma Gandhi (who did more for India than any cricketer on cricket field did), engage in corruption, pollute the environment, not pay proper taxes, not do something meaningful for the community, and so on. If their lives are focused on supporting x,y,z cricketers, they have missed out on not only other things but also good cricket from other teams. 
 

For many, cricket in Ind, along with supporting “superstars”, is an avenue to display fake patriotism (Dawood for e.g. waving Ind flag at Sharjah)  

Edited August 21, 2020 by zen

[Khota]

No. BCCI sends a very poor message with selection of non performers like Shastri as national coach. To make it count they need to start with three formats, three captains and two coaches.

[Vickydev]

In the longer format we should. There is only Oz who could challenge us if we pick the rights players