‘Disappointed’ Sourav Ganguly opens up on India’s ‘poorest’ in the last decade
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The T20 World Cup 2021 was a forgettable one for India and BCCI chief Sourav Ganguly did not mince his words as he opened up about the disastrous campaign. The Men in Blue got off on the wrong foot at the World Cup. The opening game saw their arch-rivals Pakistan beat them comprehensively.
The team got a week long break before their next game yet they couldn’t get over the 10 wicket mauling at the hands of Pakistan. Yet another top-order collapse meant India were left in a tough spot against New Zealand in virtual quarterfinal. While the Indian batters were back to their usual best, it was too little too late.
Despite winning their remaining matches against Afghanistan, Scotland and Namibia comfortably, India failed to make it to the semifinals. It was for the first time in quite some years that the Men in Blue failed to make it to the knockout stages of an ICC tournament.
“I was a little disappointed with the way we played this World Cup,” Sourav Ganguly
Former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly was not at all impressed by the side’s mediocre outing in such a big tournament. Ganguly went on to compare India’s performances in the last few ICC tournaments, the 2017 Champions Trophy and the 2019 World Cup. TThe BCCI boss added that it was the team’s worst performance lately.
“To be honest, 2017 and 2019 I think India were good. In the 2017 Champions trophy, we lost in the final to Pakistan at the Oval. I was a commentator then. In the 2019 World Cup, we were exceptional right throughout and beat everyone. But we lost to New Zealand in the semi-final, one bad day, and the entire good work for two months was just wiped away.
“I was a little disappointed with the way we played this World Cup. I think this has been the poorest of what I have seen in the last 4-5 years,” Ganguly said in the interview on RevSportz.
Ganguly feels that it was just one of those instances where the players couldn’t find the right state of mind to approach the two big games on the trot. He feels that they lacked the freedom and hence couldn’t execute the plans. But the former skipper is confident of the side making a comeback in Australia.
“I don’t know what’s the reason but I just felt they didn’t play with enough freedom in this World Cup. Sometimes it happens in the big tournaments, you just get stuck and when I saw them play against Pakistan and New Zealand, I just felt that this was a team that is playing to 15 percent of its ability. You just can’t put a finger and say this is the reason why it happened. Hopefully, they will learn from it,” Ganguly added.
The following decade has an ICC tournament every year. From the T20 World Cup in 2022 and 2024 to the World Cup in 2023 and the Champions trophy in 2025, the side has numerous opportunities to make amends. The nation is looking forward to how the team responds to the forgetful campaign and picks themselves up in Australia.
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Anshuman Mahapatra
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