WTC Final: "Don't look at the captain" - Aakash Chopra on India's inability to win ICC titles

Aakash Chopra has said that Team India's inability to win ICC titles in the last few years cannot be attributed to uninspiring captaincy, as the problem lies elsewhere.

Team India last won an ICC title in the 2013 Champions Trophy. In the six ICC events that have taken place after that, including the World Test Championship (WTC), the Indian team has lost thrice in the finals and as many times in the semi-finals.

India men’s team in ICC events since the 2013 Champions Trophy win: 2014 WT20 - Runners-up2015 ODI WC - Semis2016 WT20 - Semis2017 CT - Runners-up 2019 ODI WC - Semis2019-21 WTC - Runners-up#WTC2021Final #INDvsNZ

— Bharath Seervi (@SeerviBharath) June 23, 2021

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra pointed out that the captain cannot be held accountable for India's trophyless run in ICC events. He highlighted that both MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli have led the side in three tournaments apiece.

"We have played six ICC events since 2013. Three were in Dhoni's captaincy. After that, three have been under captain Kohli. So is it about captaincy; it doesn't tell me that. Don't look at the captain; just look inwards that the entire team has to deliver to its potential."

While India failed to win the T20 World Cups in 2014 and 2016 and the 2015 ODI World Cup under Dhoni, the talismanic captain had led the team to three ICC titles before that.

Virat Kohli will also hope to put the captaincy debate to rest by winning the T20 World Cup later this year.

"Virat Kohli's Captaincy was spot on yesterday. Every bowling change he made was a good one. To the left Handers, we know Ishant bowls well, Bowl straight on. The way he used Shami was Brilliant. So, pretty much spot on from india, Captaincy, bowling, catching." - Nasser Hussain

— CricketMAN2 (@man4_cricket) June 23, 2021

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Aakash Chopra on why India have failed to win ICC events

Aakash Chopra highlighted India's prominent players have underperformed in knockout matches.

Aakash Chopra cited numbers to show that the real issue has been the underwhelming performances of the established players, starting with Rohit Sharma.

"Rohit, Kohli, Dhoni are your main players in batting. If you see their performances - Rohit's overall knockout average is 24.9. His career Test average is 46, ODI is 49 and T20I is 32. So his average in the knockouts is much lower than his career average."

The cricketer-turned-commentator also noted that Virat Kohli's average has also seen a substantial dip in knockout encounters, saying:

"The same story is for Kohli. His overall average in knockouts after two good innings is 38.3 while his career average is above 50 in all three formats. In ODI cricket, it is nearly 60, so the average is going down by at least 20 points."

Aakash Chopra highlighted that MS Dhoni has also not covered himself with glory.

"Dhoni - his knockout average is also 34. His career average in every format is much better than that."

The 43-year-old concluded by saying that the failure of the top players to rise to the occasion is the primary reason behind India's unsuccessful run in recent ICC events.

"This is the main story. When it comes to knockout performances, you want your big players to fire. It's as simple as that. Big players need to come to the party, but they haven't done that often enough."

Aakash Chopra pointed out that it is not just the batsmen who have not delivered the goods in crunch matches. He provided the examples of Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja averaging 120.5 and 130.5, respectively, with the ball in the knockout ICC games, which India have lost.