India’s unceremonious early exit from the ICC Twenty20 World Cup has left the country shocked and in disbelief. The pre-tournament favourites of the bookies and the pundits alike could not even make it to the knockout stage from a lightweight group, involving three minnows of the game. It is yet another failure for captain Virat Kohli in an ICC tournament. Significantly, it was his last chance to lead India to a global title.
Kohli’s men were eliminated in the 2019 ODI World Cup by New Zealand in the semi-finals, and the same opposition beat them in the 2021 World Test Championship final in England. The Kiwis came to haunt India again in the T20 World Cup, knocking them out in another ICC event. Crucially, it means no ICC trophy for Kohli in his otherwise glorious career across all three formats after he announced he will cede the India captaincy in the shortest format after the World Cup campaign in the UAE, which ended on Monday. It is also unlikely that he will stay at the helm in the 50-over format with the limited-overs setup due for a major overhaul with an infusion of new blood aligned with a long-term T20Is/ODIs-specific roadmap.
In the immediate aftermath, it will be the players who will suffer the most in the wake of the utterly underwhelming performance after already enduring the mental and physical rigours of the Covid-19 induced bubble life for over six months. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has come under fire for not ensuring a proper break for the national team players after the second leg of the Indian Premier League, which was squeezed into the already hectic calendar after the team’s demanding tour of England. The team’s failure should serve as a big lesson for the BCCI bosses to improve their planning and scheduling before major ICC events. At an internal level, it is also an indictment of head coach Ravi Shastri and Kohli’s failure to prepare and adapt for the job against the highly-motivated Pakistan and the smart, disciplined Kiwis.
However, with Shastri’s tenure also ending as the coach, the big flop has come at an opportune moment for the national team to move on and implement a new roadmap for the shorter formats under new coach Rahul Dravid. The batting great is in an ideal position to oversee the reboot and transition of youngsters who he has been guiding at the National Cricket Academy and the India A setup. The idea of format-specific teams with specialised bowlers for specific formats could be implemented with the focus on workload management in the bubble life. The new coaching staff has its work cut out as they dissect the UAE debacle and put new plans in place in preparation for the T20 World Cup in Australia next year. Interestingly, the first T20 challenge for India will be against New Zealand at home before a Test series. The reboot and the transition for the team begin now.
