India have been one of the most consistent teams — entering the knockouts of all ICC events since 2014 — but the lack of titles has unfortunately given them the tag of “chokers”, which had been exclusively reserved for South Africa for decades, writes Sarah Waris.
Subscribe to the Wisden Cricket YouTube channel for post-match awards, player interviews, analysis and much more.
While tremendous importance is given to skills — and rightly so — to succeed and break the barriers on the international stage, the process that goes into making a champion is even more detailed. India, despite all their tremendous records in bilaterals at home and away, have fallen well short in ICC events in the last seven years, which has not only raised question marks over their mental toughness in a pressure game but has also given them the tag of “chokers” for their inability to rise over the expectations when the world’s eyeballs are on them.
Starting with the T20 World Cup in 2014, the Men in Blue have entered the semi-finals or the finals of ICC events six times, but have not managed to win a single event. They have reached the finals thrice — in the T20 World Cup in 2014, the Champions Trophy in 2017, and the recent World Test Championship — but have often been outplayed in the biggest clash despite a memorable run in the league stages.
The road of misery
In 2014, India entered the finals of the T20 World Cup as the unbeaten team, with dominating wins over Australia and South Africa. In the 2015 World Cup in Australia, India won every single game before they went down to the hosts in the semi-finals. The following year, during the T20 World Cup, the Men in Blue were unable to live up to their tag of ‘favourites’ as they crashed out in a one-sided semi-final against West Indies, while the 2017 Champions Trophy saw them lose to Pakistan in the finals despite entering the clash on the back of two big wins.
India were on a roll in the 2019 World Cup as well, and won all their league games barring the match against England, but came up with an uninspired showing in the semi-finals to bow out. A similar story has followed them in the World Test Championship too, where Kohli’s men (and Ajinkya Rahane’s for a bit) defeated the odds and overcame the challenges thrown at them — including the last-minute changes in the rules by the ICC — to meet New Zealand in the final.
However, the most successful team of the event with 12 wins could not put their best foot forward in the game as they went on to lose a match that was never in their control.
So, what is the reason for India choking?
While it would be easiest to blame mental toughness, or the lack of it, for the defeats in crunch moments, it seems rather hilarious to believe that a team that is under constant scrutiny from fans and experts alike will be short in that regard. The biggest display of their mental fortitude and grit was on display in the series against Australia, where the team did not shy away from taking body blows and deflating the Aussie ego at the fortress called Gabba with players who might not make the first-choice XI in a long, long time.
In an era where Ravichandran Ashwin is constantly questioned for his contributions or where Pant is pulled up publicly by the head coach and criticized for throwing the game away, it is only mental grit and resilience that allows them to make a stronger comeback. Stating that any player lacks toughness is, then, mere babbling.
What could, however, not be discounted is the unnecessary burden of expectations the team seems to put themselves under. Ahead of the 2018 Test series against England, Indian skipper Virat Kohli had stressed on the importance of ‘winning every session and every ball.’
“No one can guarantee results, but just wanting to win every session and every ball that we play, if we can carry that on for the length of the tour, I will be really proud as a captain and we will be really proud of ourselves as a team.”
The process has granted results over the last few years under Kohli’s leadership, but the simple fact is that not every ball can be won. Not every session can be a victory, and not every minute can take the team closer to a win. The game of cricket, all about the ebbs and flows, will have moments where the luck is not in the side’s favour, or will have instances when the rival team is just playing better cricket. The challenge is to make things happen even when things seem to go downhill, which did not seem to be the case in the World Test Championship final.
The game against New Zealand had rain – India’s age-old nemesis in the last two knockouts, incidentally both against the Kiwis – tilt the conditions against India, and then we saw the senior players give away their wickets in the first session on day six, which ultimately took the game away from them. Starting with Yuvraj Singh’s unfortunate rut in 2014 to the unlucky no-ball by Jasprit Bumrah against Pakistan or the toss going against the team during the 2016 T20 World Cup semi-final in a game where dew made its heavy presence felt, Indians have not always had luck on their side, but neither have they had players who could step up to counter its effects consistently.
Titles decide real champions
At the end of the day, the number of medals in the cupboard is what defines a player’s legacy. Under MS Dhoni, Team India were unable to script memorable bilateral series wins away from home — they lost ten T20Is away from home besides losing 26 ODIs in SENA countries (his team won 14 ODIs in SENA) — yet Dhoni is touted as a player under whom India reached great heights courtesy of his record in ICC events.
Undoubtedly, Kohli’s team have better numbers all over the world, but till he gets his hands on a trophy, doubts and the tag of “chokers” will remain.
