Sunil Gavaskar and Indian Cricket Team. (Photo Source: X(Twitter)
The entire nation is yet to recover from India’s heartbreaking loss in the final of the ODI World Cup 2023 against Australia at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The Men in Blue came into the summit clash having won ten matches on the trot. However, they faltered against the tactical brilliance of Australian captain Pat Cummins on the big day whose every decision paid dividends for his side.
Recently, analysing India’s continuous shortcomings in the big matches, legendary India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar stated that the team need to accept the errors they made in the final if they want to win the trophy or else their progress will be slower. The 1983 World Cup winner also suggested the selection committee to take big decisions to force a change.
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“India will have to accept some of the errors they made in the final if they want to go on and win a trophy. Trying to show solidarity is one thing, but if mistakes are not accepted, then the progress will be slower. Over the next few weeks, big decisions will have to be made by individuals and the selection committee. India not winning the T20 World Cup after 2007 is a huge disappointment considering the exposure its players and youngsters get playing in the IPL,” Gavaskar wrote in his column for The Mid-Day.
India continuously faltering in knockouts since 2014
Notably, India last won a major trophy back in 2013 as MS Dhoni-led a young side to Champions Trophy triumph. Since then, the Asian giants have reached the knockouts of every ICC tournament apart from the T20 World Cup 2021, however, an ICC trophy has eluded them.
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With the T20 World Cup 2024 just 6 months away, the BCCI is likely to take some tough decisions on the future of some of the players in the squad and will look to give the youngsters the much-needed exposure in international cricket ahead of the tournament. The recent squad announcement for the South Africa tour is indicative of the same as the star batters Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have been rested from the white-ball leg of the tour.