The Indian cricket team gave a perfect farewell to their outgoing captain V Kohlii and coaching staff headed by Ravi Shastri as they crushed Namibia by a heavy margin of 9 wickets in Dubai on Monday night to record yet another commanding victory, which, unfortunately, will have no consequence in the ongoing World Cup.
India were knocked out from the race to the semifinals of the World Cup on Sunday afternoon itself when New Zealand crushed Afghanistan by 8 wickets to quash any hopes of Kohlii’s team to make it to the final four.
For the first time since the Champions Trophy 2013 — which they won — India have failed to reach the knockouts round in a global tournament, marking a disastrous campaign for a very talented and hard-working side but in an incredibly busy season.
Indeed, bad cricket has no excuses but the Indian players, who have been on the road since June this year, have had a tough year which started off with a Test series in Australia, a series across formats against England followed by the Indian T20 League, which was held in two phases, the World Test Championship final and a lot more.
No amount of hard work and splendid performances were enough for India to have recovered from the early blues they suffered at the start of the tournament in the form of defeats to Pakistan and New Zealand. India did manage to bounce back spectacularly and record the best Net Run Rate (NRR) among all teams in Group 2, but two defeats at the start were just enough to knock them out of the tournament.
On Monday night, India were clinical both with the bat and the ball after Kohlii won the toss and invited Namibia to bat. Ravindra Jadeja returned with 4-0-16-3 whereas Ravichandran Ashwin took 4-0-20-3 in a spectacular spell of spin bowling in Dubai. Jasprit Bumrah was in his usual elements once again, returning with 4-0-19-2 whereas the likes of Mohammad Shami and Rahul Chahar remained wicketless as well as expensive.
India restricted Namibia to 132/8 with their star all-rounder and former South Africa player David Wiese top-scoring with 26. In their reply, India scored 136/1 in 15.2 overs to record yet another comprehensive victory.
There have been talks about a packed schedule, the adverse effects of biosecure bubbles, player fatigues and scheduling — the Indian T20 League had ended about three days before the start of the World Cup. But none of it showed in the performances produced by the Indian team in their last three matches against Afghanistan, Scotland and Namibia.
The naysayers and critics can claim that India mercilessly crushed teams which were far inferior against the quality and skills that they possess, but it takes doing what India did in the field in their last three matches. After defusing the Afghan challenge with a commanding 66-run victory, India showed no mercy and absolute professionalism to record heavy victories by 8 wickets and 9 wickets respectively to end the tournament on a high.
While Kohlii and his team will certainly rue the fact that their best came out towards the end of the campaign, they can still walk off from the tournament with their heads held high having showcased a brand of cricket which no other team in the tournament has been able to. And that includes Pakistan — a team which has won all their matches — but had to go through some nervous moments against Afghanistan and Namibia.
Kohlii did not bat in what was the final match of his captaincy in the shortest format.
For Kohli, it was important to give the opportunity of returning from a World Cup with happy memories to a player who is going to be the batting strength and mainstay of the Indian team for several years to come in Suryakumar Yadav.
The right-handed middle-order batsman Suryakumar, who has established himself as one of the first-choice players in the Indian team, did not disappoint in smacking four boundaries to make 25 not out from 19 balls and finish the game against Namibia on Monday night, in the company of KL Rahul. The India opener, meanwhile, notched up his third consecutive half-century in the tournament, scoring 54 from 36 balls with the help of two sixes and four boundaries.
At the toss, Kohlii all but declared that it will be R Sharma who will be the next India captain in the shortest format. Later on in the game, R Sharma was once again belligerent and severe with the bat, smashing two sixes and seven boundaries to score 56 from 37 balls while adding 86 runs for the first wicket with Rahul.
While this tournament was all about hits and misses for the Indian team, it also has served them with a lot of food for thought. The primary aspect which India certainly need to look into is their approach with the bat, with Kohlii now being free with captaincy responsibilities and making enough room to concentrate on his sliding form with the bat. India have also played a similar set of bowlers who serve them excellently in red-ball format, who may not be the best choice after all in the shortest format as well.
Rahul Chahar, who was selected as the right-arm leg-spinner ahead of India's most successful bowler in the format in Yuzvendra Chahal, did not get any opportunity until Monday night. Against Namibia, Chahar did struggle for control as he was hit for 30 runs from his four overs without any success.
While India's fielding and batting at the top was top notch along with the two indispensable resources N Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, there is still a lot of work that is there to be done before the team finds itself in the next World Cup to be held in Australia in 2022.
But for now, the team would certainly want to carry the legacy left by the coaching staff led by Ravi Shastri which included the indomitable bowling coach Bharat Arun, fielding coach R Sridhar and batting coach Vikram Rathour, who has apparently applied for the job once again.
Among the biggest positives going ahead for India, who will be back in action in a few days’ time against their nemesis New Zealand in the same format for a three-match series at home, is the arrival of renowned and highly respected Rahul Dravid as the head coach. Former cricketer Paras Mhambrey has reportedly applied for the post of India's next bowling coach.
Devarchit Varma is a cricket writer and journalist with an experience of more than a decade, having worked at Hindustan Times (newspaper) and CricketCountry (website). Along with covering international and domestic cricket, he has also interviewed several current and former top players such as Rohit Sharma, Steve Smith, Dale Steyn, Michael Hussey, Jacques Kallis, Brendon McCullum, Shane Watson, Lasith Malinga and many more. He has also worked in other beats as a journalist in Bollywood (Reliance BigOye) and IT (SiliconIndia) industries.
Read All Articles >
