Asia Cup 2023: Rashid Latif Makes Shocking Remarks On Team India's Decade-Long ICC Trophy Drought
Published - 13 Aug 2023, 04:43 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:17 AM
Former Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter Rashid Latif recently made shocking remarks about India’s decade-long ICC trophy drought in international cricket. Rashid Latif highlighted that the Men In Blue failed to win ICC titles due to internal issues in the team’s dressing room.
Team India dominated throughout the 2019 ODI World Cup but lost to New Zealand in the semi-final match. The Virat Kohli-led team suffered a group-stage exit in the 2021 T20 World Cup. The team failed to win in the 2022 T20 World Cup under Rohit Sharma’s captaincy as well.
Virat Kohli Had A Direction – Rashid Latif
In a video on his YouTube channel, Rashid Latif attributed the team’s underperformance in ICC tournaments to potential internal conflicts and the possible misuse of players.
“Virat Kohli had a direction and he wanted to win, but he was sacked. The team couldn’t perform due to internal issues,” Latif said.
They couldn’t perform in ICC tournaments because, maybe, the captain didn’t get the desired players. Or maybe he got, but they weren’t used,” he added.
Virat Kohli stepped down from the T20I captaincy after the T20 World Cup 2021. Later, he was removed as captain of India in the 50-over format. The 34-year-old was succeeded by Rohit Sharma as the captain in all formats.
Could’ve Brought Back Shikhar Dhawan – Rashid Latif
The former Pakistan skipper said that the Indian selectors should bring in veteran opener Shikhar Dhawan to strengthen the top order, considering the injuries to the middle-order batters.
“Now, there are two big events — Asia Cup in Sri Lanka and the World Cup at home. Their team is still pretty good, they will get a no.4. The problem begins when the top-3 gets dismissed quickly. If the top-3 plays out the 25-30 overs, they will win easily.
Their issue is the top-3 isn’t performing how it used to. They could’ve brought back Shikhar Dhawan, you had made him captain less than a year ago during a tour. You had players, you threw them here and there,” he concluded.
Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul are currently recovering from their respective injuries. The Rohit Sharma-led team will start their campaign in the Asia Cup 2023 on September 2 against Archrivals Pakistan.
