Why is there a fear in Indian Cricket team now?

K.R. Nayar from Dubai | NT Dubai:

When New Zealand pacer Trent Boult kept picking wickets at regular intervals against India at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday, it was evident that it was going to be a ‘bolt from the blue’ for the fancied Men in Blue Indian team. Before the start of the T20 World Cup, the Indian batting was talked about as the strongest but after their batting performance against Pakistan and New Zealand, its clearly far more brittle than anybody had thought. By succumbing to pacer Boult and spinner Ish Sodhi, the Indian batsmen could neither dominate pace nor spin.

Most teams have been struggling while batting first, but then India’s batting is considered to be among the best, and for that tag to remain, they need to prove themselves under all conditions. Also, to emerge champions one has to bowl well and not blame it on dew. From the two matches they’ve played, the Indian bowlers have taken only two wickets – none against Pakistan and two against New Zealand. After the defeat, Indian skipper Virat Kohli said: “To be brutal upfront, I don’t think we were brave enough with the bat or ball.” The question is why is there a fear in the team now? Fear engulfs only when one is weak physically and mentally. It has to be examined why the bravery and the fighting spirit that the team has often displayed got eroded on such a big stage.

While it’s a fact that every country wants to play a series against India due to the huge financial benefits, it is very likely that being in the bubble for nearly six months is taking its toll. If playing too much cricket is the reason, it would do well to remember that the T20 World Cup was not planned overnight.

Hence all other schedules of the team should have been worked out in such a way that players remain fresh and raring to go, and hence remain brave to handle the challenge. The other question that is being asked is that when some teams are playing good cricket by adapting to the conditions here and winning matches, why is it that the Indian team is not able to do the same. In fact, all players from the Indian team have been playing here in the Indian Premier League.

Then is it that foreign players in the IPL are gaining more by playing in the IPL than India’s star players? It should be noted that foreign players play in other leagues around the world too, and hence play on a variety of wickets as compared to the Indian players who don’t play in other leagues. At the post-match press conference, Jasprit Bumrah made an interesting remark: “As a sportsman, you face both good and bad days. What I try to do is not get very high when good days happen and not get very low when the low happens.” Indian fans who turned up in large numbers and returned disappointed can adapt Bumrah’s approach. They can rejoice on those days when Team India did well and accept the poor days as part of sports.

Understandably, it will be disappointing for them now since this is a World Cup. Winning many bilateral T20 and One Day series’ is great, but the fact remains that in the recent past ICC’s 50-over and T20 World Cups, India is not the champion.

Only when they become champions can the fans be proud of their team and claim that theirs is the world’s best cricket team.