- People closely following the fortunes of Indian cricket would have noticed how Team India had to endure a roller-coaster ride over the last year or so. The ICC-50 over World Cup defeat in the finals left the Indian fans disappointed since the way Team India progressed right through the tournament was simply mesmerizing. The aggressive brand of cricket played by Rohit Sharma and the team was an amazing experience for avid viewers. However, failing to cross the final hurdle must have come as a devastating blow to the players as well as millions of fans though. Team India moved on from the heartbreaking final loss to conquer the T20 World Cup played in the West Indies and the USA quite convincingly erasing the earlier disappointment of losing the finals.
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- Now, cricket-crazy fans and players themselves will vouch that winning a 50-over World Cup is more joyful and gainly than a T20 World Cup. But any team will settle for a World Cup win though. Unfortunately, what followed after the T20 triumph was two reverses in the Test series against New Zealand and Australia, respectively. It must be hurtful to any true-blood cricket fan to witness Team India being whitewashed 3-0 by the less fancied visiting New Zealanders at familiar home conditions. After the shocking defeat, Team India travelled to Australia for a mouth-watering five-Test match series hoping to achieve a hattrick of wins Down Under. Sadly, the script did not go as per expectations even as the Aussies won the series 4-1 hands down
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- One of the bright prospects to emerge from the series is the emergence of pacer Jasprit Bumrah as the premier bowler in all formats of the game. Bumrah has established himself as a once-in-a-generation cricketer by now. All eyes are on the ensuing 50-over Champions Trophy in Pakistan and Dubai with the top nations competing to emerge victorious. The moot point to ponder over here is whether Team India would be going the distance to emerge victorious competing against the best. What are Team India’s chances of conquering the trophy even as Bumrah’s injury has ruled out the talismanic cricketer from participating in the marquee event? Struggling Rohit Sharma scoring a timely century against England would have eased the tension for Team India.
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- Virat Kohli too is among the runs scoring an attractive fifty-plus score in the recently concluded ODIs against England. The inclusion of mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy by dropping Yeshaswi Jaiswal makes sense since the Indian matches will be played in Dubai. Mohammad Shami has not yet hit the stride since returning to the side after recuperating from ankle surgery. Shubhman Gill is in sublime batting form. Shreyas Iyer is in excellent batting form. Axar Patel has proved his worth as a batting allrounder. Ravindra Jadeja’s bowling form is most encouraging. Newbie Harshit Rana is a promising prospect. KL Rahul will keep wickets and has shown enough signs to contribute with the bat. Hopefully, Team India will go the distance to emerge victorious.
