Dinesh Karthik explains why India have not won an ICC event recently

Dinesh Karthik expounded on why India have failed to win an ICC trophy in recent years, as the wicket-keeper batsman shed light on what has gone wrong for them on the big stage.

India’s failure to win an ICC competition over the past few years has become something of a worry. Although the team have found success all over the globe, they last won an ICC event in 2013 when MS Dhoni’s men lifted the Champions Trophy in England.

Speaking to Indranil Basu on SK Live, Dinesh Karthik wasn’t too perturbed by India’s recent record. The KKR batsman explained there is no code to crack when it comes to ICC tournaments, pointing out how India have always made it past the knockout stages.

“There is no code to crack. When you play a tournament like that (ICC competitions) the most important thing is the league phase. If you’re a consistent team, more often than not you will reach the knockout stage. India as a cricketing nation has always done that,” said Dinesh Karthik, while speaking to Sportskeeda.

India have failed at the semi-final stage in the last two ICC World Cups. In 2015 they lost to Australia despite coming into the semi-finals unbeaten. In 2019, Virat Kohli’s men narrowly lost to New Zealand by 18 runs at the same stage despite entering the competition as favourites.

It was a similar case during the T20 World Cup in 2016, when India lost to West Indies in the semis, failing to make their home advantage count. Their struggles continued during the 2017 Champions Trophy as well, where India fell at the ultimate hurdle, losing to Pakistan in the finals.

But Dinesh Karthik stressed how the team has been consistently making it past the knockout stages. The cricketer believes a team’s performance in the knockout stages has an element of luck, and the same hasn’t gone their way in the past few competitions.

“In almost every tournament that we’ve played, we’ve reached the knockouts. In the knockouts, it depends on whatever happens that one day. Unluckily the rub of the green has not gone our way. Almost every ICC tournament, we’ve made it to the semi-finals. But you have one bad day and it so happens to be on that day,” Dinesh Karthik explained.

India will get another crack at an ICC trophy this year

The ICC Men's #T20WorldCup is returning to India next year for the first time since 2016 🏆 Countdown to the event started with the trophy launch in Dubai featuring Manu Sawhney, @SGanguly99 and @JayShah. pic.twitter.com/azjCIRPaiA

— T20 World Cup (@T20WorldCup) November 13, 2020

Virat Kohli’s men will get a chance to silence their critics soon, with the 7th edition of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup scheduled to take place later this year. India will host the famous event, which gives them the best chance to lift the title they last won in 2007.

Although Dinesh Karthik didn’t predict exactly when India will win their next global competition, he was confident the team will taste success sooner rather than later.

“You can’t be too harsh on yourself and pinpoint too many wrong things. I think given the talent and the kind of players that we have I’m sure it is only a matter of time. It will happen definitely,” Dinesh Karthik concluded.