India Hasn't Won A World Tournament Since 2013, Need To Win Big Matches - Sourav Ganguly

Former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly believes the team need to win the big matches. India won their last big tournament in 2013 when they won the Champions Trophy in England under the captaincy of former skipper MS Dhoni. Since then, India hasn’t been able to cross the last hurdle. India had lost the Champions Trophy final against Pakistan and they were knocked out of the recently concluded World Cup by New Zealand in the semifinals.

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Furthermore, India was knocked out of the T20I World Cup by West Indies in 2016. Thus, India needs to find a way of winning the big matches as they have floundered at the last step of the big tournament.

India needs to find ways to go all the way.

On the other hand, Sourav Ganguly believes India should take a leaf out of England’s book who have turned the tables drastically in the last four years. England was knocked out of the 2015 World Cup in the early stages, however, they came back strong to lift the 2019 World Cup.

Sourav Ganguly told the Print, “You need to be patient as international cricket isn’t child’s play. In any case, we haven’t won a global tournament since the 2013 Champions Trophy… We lost in the final of the next edition, in 2017, and have faltered in the semifinal stage of three successive world competitions (two World Cups and the 2016 World T20). We have to find a way to move beyond the last-four stage. Look at what England did in the recent World Cup. Learning from 2015, they transformed themselves into world-beaters”.

“My advice would be – Have a game plan and take the pressure off players. If it gets too much, they will crack. It’s inevitable. Also, I’d like the communication between the selectors and the players and between the players and the team management to be clear. We don’t need cameos only, we need match-winning innings or spells. Learn from Virat, Rohit and Bumrah… Mohammed Shami too”.

India has been the most consistent sides in the last decade. However, they haven’t won a major trophy in the last six years. Thus, the Indian team will like to turn the corner in the upcoming major events. The Indian team has consistently made the semi-final stages but they have not been able to go all the way.

India will begin their Test championship campaign against West Indies. The first of the two-Test matches will take place at Antigua from 22nd August.