By Denzil Fernandes - Dubai
Dubai, Jul 7: Our youth are flattering to deceive. Right now, it is a case of more defeats than wins for the Indian cricket team. The jinx of losing crucial finals continues much to the chagrin of their well wishers and supporters. The consistency factor is missing and the current Indian team is no better than any of their predecessors. India’s prime position as an emerging cricket power is surely in shambles !
Immediately on the heels of their loss in the tri nation series in Bangladesh to Pakistan, the Indian cricketers promptly lost their final match against Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup on Sunday in Karachi at the National Stadium. This only convinced that the Indian team is rightly known as ‘chokers’ when it comes to crunch and decisive matches. Winning insignificant matches does not help the team and right now the ‘think tank’ of the Indians seems to be empty with no ideas to break this so called jinx.
Under new captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni expectations have been immense and unlimited. After their brilliant win in the T20 World Cup in South Africa where they beat Pakistan, the Indian team had been billed as world beaters by all and sundry. This expectation has now been belied with the poor performances of the young Indian players. The killer instinct has been missing and India is struggling to hold its prominent place even in Asia. In the Asia Cup competition last week, India struggled even against lowly Bangladesh as well to a certain extent. There seems to be no back up plans or strategies when the team is not doing well.
One is not too sure about the role of new coach Gary Kirsten. He has been keeping a low profile to a great extent for reasons best known to him. What kind of ‘pre match’ planning goes on is not known. The Indian batsmen had no clue especially in the finals of the recent Asia Cup in Karachi when they were outbowled by Sri Lanka’s Ajantha Mendis who took 6 wickets for only 13 runs in 8 overs ! A lot has been expected from Dhoni’s young stars like Rohit Sharma, Praveen Kumar, Piyush Chawla, Yusuf Pathan and others like them. But unfortunately, a huge vacuum is visible in the team where some of the players are finding it difficult to find their feet on the international arena.
Just a couple of weeks ago Dhoni blamed too much cricket for their failure to perform consistently. For a professional player, there can be no such reason as fatigue or too much cricket. This is their bread and butter if they want to remain at the top and triumph. It is time for Dhoni and his boys to wake up from their deep slumber and resort to sterner and tougher playing methods to keep winning. Results is the only way by which the players will be measured and their contribution counted. When the team fails to perform, the players have to be shown the exit door and new ones introduced. Today, there is no dearth of talent in India and if the trusted ones fail there is no harm in trying the untested ones. At the end of the day, when the bails are removed all eyes will be on the scoreboard and the end result.
It is time for Indian cricket to turn the tide and find winning ways quickly.
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