IND vs SL: They Play Statistics-Driven Cricket And Not Fearless Cricket - Simon Doull On India's Failures In ICC Competitions

Former New Zealand cricketer Simon Doull has said that not being able to play fearless cricket is an issue for Team India. The former cricketer-turned-commentator along with ex-England captains Eoin Morgan and Nasser Hussain was discussing the reasons behind India’s failures to win ICC tournaments in recent years.

Team India have not been able to win any ICC competitions since the victory in the 2013 Champions Trophy under the captaincy of MS Dhoni. The Men in Blue usually perform well in the group or league stages but have been constantly failing to do well in knockout games.

Despite having a strong squad with the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, and Ravindra Jadeja in their ranks, India have not been able to win an ICC competition since 2013. Since the victory in the Champions Trophy, India have returned empty-handed from as many as six ICC events in white-ball cricket. During the same period, they have constantly been the No.1 or 2-ranked ODI and T20I team.

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Simon Doull on India’s approach:

In the 2014 T20 World Cup, India lost to Sri Lanka in the final before losing to Australia in the 2015 ODI World Cup semifinal. In 2016, they suffered defeat against West Indies in the semifinal of the T20 World Cup before losing the 2017 Champions Trophy final against Pakistan.

Two years later, the Men in Blue exited the ODI World Cup after losing the semifinal against New Zealand before failing to make it to the semifinal in the 2021 T2o World Cup. Last year, the Rohit Sharma-led side bowed out of the T20 World Cup after suffering a crushing 10-wicket loss to England in the semifinal. In 2021 and 2023, India have also lost the World Test Championship Final against New Zealand and Australia respectively.

“Fearless cricket is their issue. They don’t play fearless cricket enough,” Simon Doull told Sky Sports.

“They play statistics-driven cricket and they are too worried about their stats too often. And to me that is the one area I am concerned about their batting side. They have got all the talent and some of the best players if not the best players in the world. But it is about playing the fearless cricket at the right time of the tournament and I think that is what had really let them down in the last few World Cups,” he added.

The former New Zealand pacer further opined that the Indian players are scared of taking risks in big games due to the fear of criticism.

“They don’t go out there and take risks because they are so worried about what might be said or what might be printed or what might someone ask them about their place in the team. That’s the one area I am concerned with,” said Simon Doull.

India will be looking to end their long wait for the World Cup when they take part in the tournament next month. The tournament is scheduled to be played from October 5 to November 19.