India’s problems resurface in WTC Final as wait for ICC trophy continues

Team India have done it again. Their hopes of winning a major title ended in yet another heartbreak, thanks to a mix of shoddy batting and bowling as well as some bad luck. The team that has the potential to be world beaters across formats, remain without a trophy for more than decade.

Since defeating England in a thrilling rain-truncated encounter in Edgbaston to win the 2013 Champions Trophy, India have reached the final of four different ICC events, including the 2021-23 World Test Championship, and bowed out in the semis in four other tournaments, failing to reach the knockouts only once.

Getting close to silverware on so many occasions, you’d expect a team to get their act right at least once and come out triumphant. A mental block, however, is a real thing in sport and both teams and individuals find themselves incapable of conquering their big-match nerves. It has happened to South Africa since their readmission in 1991. And the same has been going on with the Indian team in recent years.

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The Australian team, in the meantime, lent further credibility to their claim of being the greatest team of all time in either men’s or women’s cricket as they added a ninth title to their burgeoning trophy cabinet, becoming the first team to win all major ICC trophies on offer.

Even though they had been playing catch up from Day 1 and were a collapse away from a massive defeat, the Indian team and their legion of fans pinned their hopes on the overnight pair of Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane to mount a rescue act for the ages.

This very team, after all, had performed miracles in recent years. From scripting one of the greatest triumphs in the history of the sport against this very team to beating England in England and outperforming South Africa at Centurion’s Supersport Park that has been their fortress over the years. The thousands of their supporters at The Oval, and the billion watching on TV sets, had every reason to expect something similar on Sunday.

In a manner that has been all too familiar with the Indian team in the big matches over the years, they collapsed like a house of cards soon as Kohli was dismissed one short of fifty. The team would go on to lose their last seven wickets for a little over 50 runs and fail to last beyond the morning session.

It wasn’t the collapse on the final day alone that was to blame for India’s misery; they had to bat out of their skins just to secure a draw or go past 400 and try and aim for a victory. India would have fallen short by a fair margin even if they had produced a much better batting performance than they did in their first innings.

The collapse, and the eventual defeat, was the culmination of the pressure that the Australians successfully managed to maintain over the course of five days.

Of course, the batting department would have to cop a fair amount of flak for failing to fire yet again despite ideal conditions on offer at The Oval. Barring the initial session on the opening morning, conditions had remained sunny throughout.

Then came the questionable selection of shots or the lack of them for that matter. From Shubman Gill and Cheteshwar Pujara perishing while leaving the ball in the first innings to the latter getting dismissed in a rather uncharacteristic manner in the second essay. He attempted to uppercut a short delivery from Pat Cummins when the situation demanded a more cautious approach. There was also the familiar sight of Virat Kohli poking at the ball moving away from him and getting caught in the slip cordon on Sunday.

Also familiar was the sight of the Indian top-four going for a walk in crunch moments. Despite boasting of a star-studded batting lineup, the Indian top order has been found wanting not just in ICC knockout clashes but in a number of recent Test tours as well. The middle-order had to bail them out on a few occasions in the memorable tours of Australia and England, and it was no different on the second day when India were reduced to 71/4, trailing by nearly 400.

It came down to the trio of Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja and Shardul Thakur to ultimately get them close to the 300 mark and lend some respectability to their batting performance. Had that trio not performed, the match could have been over as early as the third day itself.

It wasn’t just the batting department that was to blame though. The pace unit got India off to a promising start after Rohit opted to field under an overcast London sky, with Mohammed Siraj striking as early as the fourth over of the match. India then had Australia at 76/3, with David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne back in the hut, sensing the opportunity to restrict them below 300.

The very same unit, though, had little answer to Travis Head’s superb counterattack, with the Aussie middle-order batter deciding to take on the Indian attack head-on and turning the tide in his team’s favour in the process. Head would go on to forge a game-changing partnership with Steve Smith, who looked a little rusty early on but began expressing himself freely after Head’s arrival. The pair would add 285 for the third wicket and that would ultimately prove to be the difference between the two sides.

That wasn’t the only time India let them off the hook though. They had Australia on the mat again in their second innings, reducing them to 124/5 early on the fourth day and could have shot them out for 200 or less and given themselves a comparatively manageable target to chase. This time it would be Alex Carey who would produce the kind of knock that Head did in the first innings, along with a cameo from Mitchell Starc that would help Australia stretch their lead well beyond 400.

“We started well winning the toss and putting them into bat in those conditions. We bowled pretty well in the first session and then we let ourselves down a little bit with how we bowled. But again, credit to the Australian batters, in particular, Travis Head came in and played really well. That took us off guard a little bit and then we knew it was always hard to come back,” India skipper Rohit said during the post-match presentation.

Besides their shortcomings with bat and ball, India will also be left ruing some of their decisions in matters of team selection, especially their call to bench senior off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, a proven match-winner across a variety of surfaces. This when his Australian counterpart Nathan Lyon ended up bagging 4/41 in India’s second innings, the best individual figures in this match.

For now, the Indian team has a month-long break before heading to the Caribbean. The focus, however, will shift to the one-day format as India prepare for the ODI World Cup that takes place in their backyard later this year, where India will get another opportunity to end the wait.

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