A brilliant victory. For a generation that have not seen India lift any ICC trophy, a couple of them in space of 8 months is something all of us will cherish for a very longtime. If only the 2023 ODI World Cup was added to this list, it would have been a great couple of years. Nevertheless, the win was a sweet as it can get. This wasn’t achieved on the back of a one or a couple of brilliant individual performances. Rather, this was on the back of almost everyone contributing at crucial time. If there was a debutant who picked up wickets with regular alacrity, there was a veteran who developed his reputation based on the immaculate and almost flawless chases. It is not often that Bumrah’s absence was not felt.
Infact, in the semi-final and the final, India went with Hardik Pandya as the second seamer thereby giving him much confidence and also allowing the team to play an extra spinner. Ofcourse, the pitch in Dubai was of great help to all the spinners irrespective of which team they were part of but it was the Indian spinners who took advantage of that. The foreign media and some of the foreign players will whine that India were given unfair advantage and that they played at home despite the tournament being held in Pakistan. By that as it may, as Ashwin said in his podcast, at the moment, Indians are the worst batsmen of spin. For the players, the slow and low surface of Dubai would not have suited at all. Given an option, they would have played on the roads of the Pakistan pitches.
White-ball cricket in India is quite healthy
Indian white-ball cricket is strong enough. There are enough players apart from the current lot who could walk into any side. The likes of Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson, Arshdeep and a few others can easily replace quite a lot of players in other sides. Infact, the BCCI must form two squads and both of them can be involved at the sametime in different continents. Both the teams will be followed vigorously by us the Indians purely because it is an Indian team that is playing. Ofcourse, the Indian team has only two ICC trophies to show for their dominance but the fact is that India has a win/loss ratio of more than 2.20 over the last 10 years.
For someone who has seen India struggle against even weaker teams during the last millennium, this is unbelievable. There was a time when India will struggle to defeat even Kenya. If I am not wrong, we even lost a couple of games to Kenya. This despite the fact that the best players played in those games.
Rohit said in the press conference, “That shows the quality in the team. A lot of depth. A lot of understanding within the group and a lot of excitement. And that is how we want to play our cricket. That’s what we had spoken before the tournament – that there’s too much pressure on the outside. If one game, India loses, or the match goes here and there, there’s so much speculation that happens.
“But the boys and the team have actually managed to put that aside, and just focused on how to win games and how to enjoy the game. That’s been the most important aspect of our game in the last two or three years that we’ve been here.”
Everyone must learn from New Zealand
Credit is due to New Zealand who did not complain about India playing in Dubai. Mitchell Santner, the New Zealand captain instead focussed on his players and commended India for superior cricket. He surely missed the services of Matt Henry who was the leading wicket taker of the tournament. His presence may not have altered the result but his presence could have inspired the Kiwis.
“I think the way we went about it for the first eight overs or so was outstanding. And then it took some brilliance from the spinners to really peg us back and make it challenging through that middle phase,” Santner said. “After the start, we were probably thinking of a score around 275 or 280. Credit has to go to Kuldeep for the way he bowled straight after the powerplay, and Varun inside the powerplay.”
There are only two teams, New Zealand and South Africa that do not complain and let their cricket speak for themselves.
Test cricket debacle must not be forgotten
In all the euphoria after the success, it must not be forgotten the miserable run over the last several months in Test cricket for India. The humiliation at home against New Zealand and a series in Australia that could have been won if Bumrah had support, must forever etched in the annals of Indian cricket history. The public memory is too short. The Champions Trophy win followed by 3 months of IPL will easily erase these defeats from the public mind. That must not be allowed to happen. For the riches the Indian board commands, Indian cricket must dominate in all three formats in every condition. It is not happening at the moment.
There is a longway to go. Success in white-ball cricket is great but it is Test cricket wins that earns the respect of the world. Indian players and the Indian board must achieve that. Ganguly under his stewardship made a good beginning which floundered under Dhoni. Kohli resurrected it but Rohit has not been able to inspire.
Other Champions Trophy blogs
https://icricketcritique.com/indian-champions-trophy-squad/
https://icricketcritique.com/a-fabulous-win/
https://icricketcritique.com/news-from-the-champions-trophy/
https://icricketcritique.com/more-from-champions-trophy/
https://icricketcritique.com/news-from-champions-trophy-2/
https://icricketcritique.com/rahuls-defence-and-ashwins-support/
