Five reasons behind the Indian cricket team's downfall

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of Sportskeeda.

Three times World Cup champions (T20 included), the numero uno team in the Test arena for close to two years, the country with the most high-profile T20 league (IPL) in the world, now find themselves in a black hole where a win seems as rare as light. The team has slumped towards defeat one after the other and seems to have forgotten the art of winning. After reaching the pinnacle of world cricket in 2011, the fortunes of the team have changed drastically (for a bad reason though).

Let us try to scrutinize the possible reasons for this sorry state of Indian cricket.

Unplanned Transition

To be honest, a planned transition has never been the hallmark of Indian cricket. There has always been an emphasis on today rather than tomorrow. Almost every big star has tended to prolong his career due to the short-sightedness of the selectors and team management. But the sudden retirements have left such gaping holes that will take some time to fill.

Busy Schedule

With the advent of various T20 leagues, the schedule has become more crammed. Players have become more prone to injuries than ever, thus leading to a limited pool of players to choose from. While some may argue that the T20 format has improved the game, traditionalists are strictly against it, and their argument being the total disregard of basics of the game.

Conservative Mindset

Even after so many defeats, the selectors keep on selecting the same team, and to top it all, the captain has rarely shown the will power to make some drastic changes. Even when India were being humiliated in Australia and England, they chose to field the same team, hoping for miracles. Some cricket pundits even accuse Dhoni of favouritism towards CSK guys. Moreover, the demand for turning pitches and subsequent losses have also taken some sheen off the achievements of MS Dhoni.

Betting on wrong horses

Many experts feel that Ganguly, as a captain, had a great eye for new talent and nurtured them whole-heartedly. Stars like Sehwag, Zaheer, Yuvraj, Harbhajan, etc are some of the products of the Ganguly-Wright collaboration. The same thing can’t be said about Dhoni, examples being Ishant, Jadeja, Rohit Sharma, etc. In this regard, Ganguly seems to have his nose ahead of Dhoni the leader.

Lack of Leaders

Like everything has an expiry date, so do captains. Despite all his achievements, the clamour for Dhoni’s head has been getting louder each passing day. Even after his removal, there does not seem to be a clear-cut leader to take up the leadership job, such is the state of Indian cricket nowadays. But, as always, you can’t learn swimming without getting down into the water.

For all his capabilities and achievements, MS Dhoni, as a player, is invaluable (especially in limited overs cricket). There seems to be too much on his plate and there is a need to manage his workload. Also, a captain is only as good as the team, as it’s a team game. Therefore, split captaincy wouldn’t be a bad option at all. With the ever-increasing fixtures, this might be the way forward, as change is always for good.

Indian cricket needs to move on as players come and go, but the game goes on forever.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of Sportskeeda.