From 2017 Champions Trophy to WTC final: Decoding where Virat Kohli-led India kept losing the plot

master

June 26, 2021

KEY STORY

Virat Kohli-led India were once again favourites for winning the inaugural ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final, versus New Zealand at The Rose Bowl, Southampton. While many former cricketers, experts and pundits of the gentlemen’s game predicted India’s success, it was Kane Williamson & Co. who emerged on top and stamped their authority on the Test mace.
With this win, the Kiwis ended their ICC-trophy drought, which spanned for over two decades. On the other hand, India’s title drought has now stretched further, with their last major tournament win being in the 2013 Champions Trophy in England and Wales. Thus, the Men in Blue’s last successful campaign in an ICC event came under former captain MS Dhoni.
Since Kohli took over as a full-format captain, he has led India in three ICC tournaments but has failed to take his side to the championship in any of them. From shocking defeat in 2017 Champions Trophy final, missed opportunity in 2019 ODI World Cup and now giving away the Test mace, decoding where India lost the plot at crunch situations in last three major tournaments:

1) 2017 Champions Trophy final defeat to Pakistan: It is often said that when an unpredictable Pakistan line-up gets some momentum in a major tournament, they become a daunting force and one of the most dangerous units. Team India faced the wrath of their neighbours when they were demolished in the summit clash of the 2017 Champions Trophy.

Back then, many had termed India as favourites and social media was abuzz with several memes already on the Pakistan team before the finale. However, they punched above their weight to stun the Indian contingent. Being asked to bat first, Pakistan made 338-4 and bundled out India for 158.

As per many, Kohli & Co. were a bit overconfident as their rusty approach with the ball and and in the field suggested the same. Some still contemplate that Kohli-led Indian team management made a mistake by bowling first on a good batting track (though Sarfaraz Ahmed-led Men in Green wanted to do the same). If they had batted first, Pakistan’s horrible chasing record is well documented to all.

2) No Plan B, Ambati Rayudu and No. 4 uncertainties, Dhoni’s demotion: India’s next ICC tournament was the last ODI World Cup. Once again, they dismantled oppositions to enter the semi-finals, facing fourth-ranked New Zealand at The Old Trafford, Manchester. In a two-day semi-final affair, the Kiwis beat India by 18 runs.

While one can defend the team that the rain break and overcast conditions made the equation favourable for the Black Caps, India’s lack of Plan B, no certainty at No. 4 despite Ambati Rayudu being a firm contender in the run-up to the mega event and poor decision to shuffle the batting order led the team to pay heavily.

Dhoni, whose finishing skills were fading since 2018, was still trusted to do the job and demoted to No. 7 in the crunch semi-final. Coming out at 71-5, the former Indian captain still gave his all with Ravindra Jadeja (77) but the team fell short eventually. Not only Dhoni, Kohli & Co. had also promoted a finisher like Dinesh Karthik at No. 5; depicting their puzzled approach.

3) Lack of match practice, another batting failure and an ordinary bowling show: The Indian team has been the best Test team in the last five years, finishing at the top spot in annual ICC rankings in the last five years in a row. Hence, this was India’s best chance to return with an ICC title. Nonetheless, the script remained the same this time around as well.

While many might argue that had the Indian team got time to play practice matches, prior to the WTC final, the story could’ve been different. However, it is to be noted that they got enough extra days at the expense of IPL 14’s sudden and indefinite suspension. Thus, there was always a lack of planning from the BCCI in the run-up to the finale.