It has been a long time since India last won an ICC title. Between 2007 and 2013, India won all three major championships – the T20 World Cup in 2007, the 2011 World Cup and the Champions Trophy in 2013 under MS Dhoni. But for some reason, since Edgbaston 2013, India have come close several times but have stumbled ahead of the final or last two obstacles.
India have finished semi-finalists in three ICC events since – 2015 World Cup, 2016 World T20 and the 2019 World Cup, while emerging runner-up thrice – 2014 World T20, 2017 Champions trophy and the most recently concluded World Test Championship.
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While India have been brilliant in winning bilateral series at both home and abroad, their failure to get past knockout matches in the ICC tournament raises concern. The debate took precedence again as India lost to New Zealand by eight wickets in the final of the inaugural WTC, which once again highlighted the question: 'Are India not good at ICC knockout matches?' That question has been answered by the one and only Sunil Gavaskar.
"If you look at the last few matches, that seems to be the case. Perhaps there is a mental blockage because of which we are not able to win an ICC title. But about this WTC title, we should remember that the conditions were exactly the ones that New Zealand players face. So they found it a little easy and that was not case with India," Gavaskar, a former India captain told Sports Tak.
{{/usCountry}}"If you look at the last few matches, that seems to be the case. Perhaps there is a mental blockage because of which we are not able to win an ICC title. But about this WTC title, we should remember that the conditions were exactly the ones that New Zealand players face. So they found it a little easy and that was not case with India," Gavaskar, a former India captain told Sports Tak.
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A former India batsman and the first to record 10,000 runs in Test cricket, Gavaskar feels that while New Zealand played well, they had the advantage of familiar conditions, which Kane Williamson and his team capitalized on. Not to forget that they entered the WTC final on the back of a series win in England, which went a long way in boosting their confidence levels. As for India, they only played an intra-squad simulation match for match practice.
"We should remember that before pointing fingers at our team. Think of the fact that the conditions were like New Zealand and that's what their team took advantage of. That's why they could win the World Test Championship," Gavaskar elaborated.