World Cup 2023: Can India shed the chokers tag in big cricket tournaments?

India start firm favourites in the upcoming ODI World Cup but with the tag of "chokers" dangling ominously overhead.

This derisive term was widely used to describe hugely talented South African cricket teams between 1995 and 2015 becuase they would consistently trip and fall at the last hurdle and failed to win any trophy of consequence. It has since migrated to the Indian cricket team which has flopped badly in all major multi-nation International Cricket Council (ICC) tournaments after winning the 2013 Champions Trophy.

Two years earlier, India had won the ODI World Cup and four years before that, in MS Dhoni's maiden assignment as captain, India, without big stars, clinched the inaugural T20 World Cup.

This hat-trick of triumphs made Dhoni into a cult figure and also highlighted the wealth and depth of cricket talent in India.

With the IPL (started in 2008) growing exponentially - in popularity and profitability - thereafter and players emerging from every nook and corner of the country, India's march upwards in the global order of cricket looked unstoppable.

In many ways, that has indeed been the case.

India today is not just the most powerful cricketing nation, bringing in almost 70% of "eyeballs", which translates into roughly 70% of global revenue but also been the world's best performing side, for long periods topping the ICC rankings across formats.

Heading into the 2023 World Cup, India are again one of the top teams in Tests, ODIs and T20s.

The Indian cricket system, despite all of its shortcomings, has been successful in providing top-class facilities, creating opportunities for competitive matches and substantial pecuniary rewards for players at every age group.

India now has the largest talent pool in the world and Intense competition between players for a place in the India team has onsistently driven up performance levels.

But while all this has made Indian cricket formidable, inability to win a multi-team tournaments for so long remains a frustrating enigma for fans. Ironically, in almost all ICC tournaments - across formats - since 2013, India started favourites, only to flop in the knock-out stages or final.

What explains this distressing trend?

Is it bad selection policy, ill-conceived planning, too many changes of captains and coaches, faulty workload management of players,or just plain bad luck?

All these will have contributed - in some way - in how the team has performed. But since India reached the knock-out stage in most tournaments, it would be fair to say that the nub of the problem lies elsewhere.

Winning major cricket tournaments is not just a function of rich talent, but how quickly players adjust to different pitches and conditions, how astutely the team management prepares for different opponents and most significantly, how players, individually and collectively, cope with adverse situations that can crop up on and off the field.

To put the last mentioned more bluntly, how good is the Indian team under pressure?

With 1.4 billion fans expecting nothing less than victory each match - this pressure can make the best players jelly-kneed, drop their focus, or as seems the more likely, lose nerve in crunch situations.

Ravi Shastri, former India captain and chief coach, says unlike in individual games, where the onus is on the player himself to tackle pressure, this syndrome gets more complex in team sports where every player has to do his bit to near perfection to make a collective winning thrust, or for some players to make up (swiftly) for those who are having a poor day.

"Even a brief spell of poor play, one bad selection can cause a disaster," he says.

The loss to New Zealand in the 2019 semi-final, when three wickets - including Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli - were lost in the first few overs, and R Ashwin being dropped from the playing XI for the World Test Championship final against Australia this year validate Shastri's analysis.

"They (players) have to have their wits about them, be strong of gut, and not mentally ruthless. At this level, even a minor slip-up,a brief lapse in concentration and the opposing team can finish you off," says Shastri.

So does India have the wherewithal to win this time?

In terms of talent, experience and balance in the team, certainly. Before the Asia Cup, India looked a still unsettled side, wracked by searching questions.

Would Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul andShreyas Iyer - returning from long-injury layoffs, be fully fit and in form? Was recalling Kuldep Yadav from the wilderness a wild punt or well-calculated selection since the team already had two other left-arm spinners in R Jadeja and Axar Patel? Would making the wicket-keeper's slot a toss-up between KL Rahul and Ishan Kishan create needless pressure on both?

But such compunctions were allayed as the Indian team stormed to a title win.

Playing at home is a big advantage too, as the last three World Cups highlight but no guarantee to winning the title. Australia couldn't even even make it to the knock-out stage in 1992. In 1987 and 1996, playing at home, India still got knocked out in the semi-final both times.

All told, there is no template or simple formula to make a bunch of players into a winning unit. Ability apart, choosing the right playing XI, players developing fine chemistry among themselves, finding inspiration that stokes ambition continuously and for players to absorb extreme pressure at all times are all crucial.

Needless to say, how the Indian team responds to the myriad challenges in the next seven to eight has the cricket world agog. Will it be Champions or Chokers this time?

Ayaz Memon has covered eight World Cups

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