- One of the most visible outcomes of the sound thrashing Team India received Down Under when it lost the series 1-3 is the aftermath action being played out quite visibly. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has been at the receiving end of the team’s less-than-acceptable standard of performance, which was touted as the best to emerge in decades. What went wrong in six months since Team India won the much-coveted T20 World Cup is beyond explanation for the people closely following the fortunes. As you are aware, when things are not exactly going your way, several fault lines do appear exposing brutally where things may have gone wrong. As the popular saying goes, you cannot hide in a sports field without getting exposed, either good or bad.
PC: Hindustan Times
- Team India’s abject surrender, especially the batting failures of some of the most accomplished performers, caused concerns. The postmortem following the defeat is par for the course move and the BCCI and the selectors did initiate earnest efforts at dissecting what possibly went wrong for Team India in Australia. Indian batters are renowned for playing spin quite adroitly since they are brought up on some of the most rank turners during their nascent years. That a visiting team like New Zealand blanked out Team India 3-0 in familiar home conditions in Tests with the spinners decimating the famed battling lineup must have come as a rude awakening and things to follow subsequently. Australia series simply reaffirmed the downslide so convincingly.
PC: Sports Tak
- Obviously, Indian batters struggling to cope with the spinners in home conditions must have rankled the powers that be. Also, the way superstar cricketers like Virat Kohli and others failed to raise their game to take on the might of the Aussies only further reaffirmed the importance of playing domestic matches viz. Ranji Trophy to hone long format skills. Little wonder, the selectors mandated Indian cricketers to play as many as domestic matches they could before being considered for Team India duties. Mind you, the all-important 50-overs ICC Champions Trophy and the five-match Test series against England are in the offing. Thus, the diktat to play domestic cricket is a welcome measure further helping the local structure to emerge more competitive.
PC: Hindustan Times
As reported in newspapers, top cricketers including skipper Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Rishabh Pant, and Shubhman Gill will be turning out for their respective Ranji teams in the next few days. This augurs well for the overall domestic competitions allowing the fledgling cricketers to brush shoulders with established performers. In hindsight, it also appears that a few of the superstar cricketers have long forgone the option of playing domestic cricket citing international commitments. Now that the selectors have mandated superstars to play domestic matches, the issue of workload management would be automatically taken care of. Will the diktat be soon forgotten if Team India returns to its winning ways? You bet!
