No ICC titles since 2013. Eleven knockout matches, three wins. Five consecutive knockout losses, with the only two wins coming against Bangladesh since the 2015 50-over World Cup. In other words, not good enough. For a team that lords over the others in terms of financial muscle and a team that boasts of some exceptional talent, the limp surrender to Australia in the final of the World Test Championship at The Oval is a harsh reminder of this side’s inherent problems. The way India capitulated on the final day to lose the Test by 209 runs in the first session on the final day was more disconcerting. It’s a team that should have been in transition a long time ago; a lot of the players are well over 30 but the Indian cricket board (BCCI) has shown no inclination to infuse young blood in the squad.
The BCCI has also allowed the status quo—not having a chairman of selectors—to continue over the last few months. It’s like running a company without a chief executive officer. With a 50-over World Cup at home in under four months, they are yet to get around to this. If they have a serious vision of addressing the ICC title drought, they will move swiftly to put a seemingly broken house in order.
That’s even before you get to some of the core issues. The appointments of Rahul Dravid as coach and Rohit Sharma as captain have not hit the sweet spot as yet. When Sharma was brought on board as an all-format captain at the age of 34, it spoke of India’s desperation in seeking ICC titles. He was recognised as a captain who won titles for his IPL franchise and was expected to replicate that magic for India. That hasn’t happened. Dravid’s work with the junior set-up was lauded but it’s not like youngsters have won promotion under his watch. If anything, his tenure, at least so far, will be remembered for handing out a Test debut to T20 specialists, going back to batters who were dropped after a string of low scores in the first place, defensive set-ups and an expanding injury list.
Board president Roger Binny promised to get to the bottom of that in October 2022 but he’s no closer to solving the issue. Prasidh Krishna continues to be on the sidelines. Jasprit Bumrah’s back has been a problem. Shreyas Iyer... this is not an exhaustive list. With a home World Cup, the board will continue to back incumbents. But after 18 months of the Sharma-Dravid combine, India has, if anything, gone two
steps back.