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'Don't know if Dhoni was going to win you the game from dressing room': Ex-IND cricketer's big statement on 2019 WC loss
Speaking on India's long-standing issues in ICC tournaments, former India cricketer recalled the 2019 World Cup where MS Dhoni was sent to bat at seven.
Since 2013 Champions Trophy win in England, under the leadership of MS Dhoni. India have failed to bag yet another ICC trophy. They reached the semi-finals twice in ODI World Cups and once in T20 World Cup (2016), but failed to proceed. The closest they had come was in the 2017 Champions Trophy, where they had reached the final, but eventually lost to arch-rivals Pakistan. And in 2021 T20 World Cup, India suffered a heartbreaking and forgettable group-stage exit despite entering the tournament as title favourites. Speaking on India's long-standing issues in ICC tournaments, former India cricketer Parthiv Patel recalled the 2019 World Cup where MS Dhoni was sent to bat at seven.
Parthiv's comment came in reference to his explanation on how India have managed to get tactically wrong during ICC tournaments which resulted in defeats at crucial moments. Speaking to Cricbuzz, Parthiv opined that a batsman of Dhoni's stature should have been sent earlier rather than being kept for No.7 position.
"In the 2019 World Cup semi-final, we sent Dinesh Karthik to bat at five and MS Dhoni at seven. I don't know if MS Dhoni was going to win you the game from the dressing room," he said.
India had suffered a heartbreaking 18-run defeat to New Zealand in the semi-final of 2019 World Cup in Manchester. Dhoni had scored a valiant half-century but was run-out in the penultimate over of India's run chase.
Parthiv also pointed out how Yuzvendra Chahal was left out of the T20 World Cup squad last year owing to recency bias.
"In bilateral series, you don't have to change much. You just have to plan once and usually the plan goes for the full series. But the pressure is different when you get into a semi-final or a final. India lost to a better team at the 2015 World Cup. But when you look at the Champions Trophy final (2017), India got it wrong tactically by deciding to bowl first on that wicket. Or in the 2019 World Cup, we didn't get our team right as we couldn't find a No.4 batter for two years.
"In the last T20 World Cup, we left out Yuzvendra Chahal, who is our No.1 spinner and picked players who had done well just in the recent past. We didn't win those ICC trophies because we were tactically not right," he explained.
