Former England captain Micheal Vaughan made headlines in the cricket world recently when he mentioned that the Indian Cricket has been the most underachieving sports team in the world

This Article will explore if there is merit into the claim

Presented by: Raghunath Nair

Vaughan said India’s performances have not been noteworthy because they failed to land any global trophy in the last decade.

Vaughan said India’s performances have not been noteworthy because they failed to land any global trophy in the last decade. While talking in a Fox Sports panel discussion during the second Test between Australia and Pakistan at the MCG,

Introduction

While it hurts as an Indian cricket supporter there may be merit to what the former England captain had to say.

When India got their maiden World Cup Title in 1983, the world noticed a new cricketing powerhouse in the making.

The 1983 World Cup was no small achievement for a cricket crazy country. It made cricket being treated as a religion in the country and since then the game of cricket made a special place in every Indian’s heart.

With the domestic circuit in India becoming bigger and stronger helped Team India to produce great cricketers since then. 

Post the 1983 World Cup, ICC Trophies dried up for Team India for a very long time even with big names in the team like Sachin Tendulkar, Virendra Sehwag, Rahul Dravid etc.

Indian Test Cricket

With time, India managed to become a better touring side and started winning Test outside the country. Even in the ODI format, from the 1983 Squad, India always fielded a superior team.  

India in SENA countries had struggled to even draw a Test series till recently. Indian Test teams have now improved their record in oversees Test matches in the past few years.

In the just concluded Test Series against the Proteas, India was expected to win their maiden Test Series in South Africa against a relatively inexperienced Proteas team.

India has failed to win a Test Series in South Africa ever and this series had very high expectations.

The First Test in centurion saw India losing within just three days in a one-sided match. India poorly lost by an innings and 32 runs. Neither the bowling nor the infamous batting lineup had answer to the Proteas team.

India continued to struggle in the bouncy seaming conditions of the African continent.

Though India lost the first Test match, they salvaged to level the series with an impressive maiden win in Cape Town in the Second and Final Test.

Former England captain Michael Vaughan termed the Indian men’s cricket team “one of the most underachieving teams in the world” for not being able to win big despite a massive number of resources and talent.

Vaughan did make a valid point that with all the talent available they do not win anything in ICC tournaments.

India’s dream of winning a Test series in testing conditions of African continent has not translated into reality.

 The Wait for an ICC Championship

India last won a major ICC tournament back in 2013, the ICC Champions Trophy.

Since their triumph in the 2013 Champions Trophy in England, under MS Dhoni’s leadership, India has consistently reached the semifinals and finals of ICC events in both T20s and ODIs but failed to become champions in any ICC championship.

India has reached the final of the 2014 ICC T20 World Cup, the semifinals of the 2016 and 2022 T20 World Cup, the semifinals of the 2015 and 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup, the final of the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup at home this year.

They also have been in the finals of both the world Test Championship held till date but failed to win either the 2019-21 finals or the 2021-23 ICC World Test Championship

India starts as one of the favourites in most ICC tournaments. They also rank on the top before any major ICC tournament but fail to win the Championship.

In most tournaments, team India starts well and win most matches till the knockout phase.

While they do not go ahead and win the tournament, individual Indian players would be seen dominating the list of top wickets or most runs in the tournament.

Out of all the missed opportunity, Indian fans would feel the loss in the 2023 ODI World Cup Finals against Australia that will hurt the most. This was after the Indian team coming into the finals with a 10-match winning streak including beating Australia in the round robin.

Former English Captain, Nasser Hussain also had criticised India for playing timid cricket and blamed this approach for failing to win any major ICC tournament since 2013.

In the 2023 World Cup Finals, A similar timid approach was visible in the finals against Australia. The fear of failure made them play more cautiously and India managed only four boundaries in 40 overs.  This for an Indian team who takes pride in their boundary scoring ability tells us a story.

Pitch too would have played a role but that cannot be an excuse especially in when the tournament is played in your backyard.

The Pressure of finals restricted the Indian players to play with freedom which helped them dominate the round robin games. The Indian fan would relate this scenario in multiple ICC Championships for the men in Blue when the team suddenly freezes in an ICC tournament Final

Despite No ICC Trophy since 2013, the constant denial from Coach Rahul Dravid of any final Phobia could be the problem

The team’s inability to play to their potential on significant occasions remains a cause for concern.

Also Read: Rahul Dravid – A Great Player but a Lost Coach.

Some other factors include

• Peaking too early.
• The mental exhaustion from a month-long event.
• The top-heavy batting order shielding the middle order and not getting exposed to the pressure.
• The lack of game-time for players.
• India not evolving with time in style of play.
• Key players playing all 3 formats leading to confused approach and fatigue.

Conclusion

The next ODI World Cup will see replacements and a change in personnel which may lead to a change in fortunes.

MS Dhoni went into the inaugural ICC T20 World Cup dropping seniors and big names like Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid.

A new young-looking Indian team went on to win the 2007 ICC T20 Cup.

The current Indian think tank cannot see beyond Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma for the 2024 T20 World Cup.

This proves that nothing has changed. An insecure and nonflexible coaching team also has to be equally blamed for the lack of change in Indian Cricket.

Cultivating a fearless mindset should be a priority for the future generation of Indian cricketers.

The team’s mental resilience and strategic approach will always be a talking point till the Jinx of not winning an ICC Trophy is broken.

While Indian media and Indian cricketers, from current and the past have been very vocal to criticize Micheal Vaughan’s statement, they too cannot deny the truth in the statement.

Missing to win an ICC trophy since 2013 even after coming so close to winning it on multiple occasions has given Team India the new “Chokers” Tag.

Also Read: The Future of Cricket: Predictions and Possibilities