Salman Butt explains why it is too early to term India chokers in ICC tournaments

Former Pakistan opener Salman Butt has opined that it is too early to tag the current Indian cricket team as chokers in ICC events. Butt stated that India haven’t lost as many big tournaments as South Africa to be termed as chokers.

Team India were severely criticised for failing to deliver in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final against New Zealand in Southampton. They were the strongest side in the competition going into the final but were thumped by the Kiwis in the summit clash despite two full days of play lost to rain.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Butt explained that India have won big tournaments under previous captain MS Dhoni and that Virat Kohli’s men have only played a handful of ICC knockout games. Responding to a query in this regard, Butt elaborated:

“India don’t have a long history of not winning an ICC event. Under previous captain MS Dhoni, India won the Champions Trophy (2013), the World T20 (2007) and the 50-over World Cup (2011). Recently, India played the World Test Championship (WTC) final and the 2019 World Cup semi-final. They have been almost there among the world’s Top 2 teams. So, the frequency of India’s losses is not that much to term them as chokers.”

Butt pointed out even New Zealand lost a lot of knockout games in ICC events before winning the WTC final. He added:

“Look at the number of semi-finals New Zealand have played in the World Cup. They have played two finals as well (2015 and 2019). Nobody called them chokers. South Africa were termed chokers because they frequently lost big matches. They went down in a lot of finals and crunch games. That isn’t the case with India as yet.”

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India’s performance in ICC events since 2013 Champions Trophy

India have frequently made it to the semi-finals and finals of ICC events since the 2013 Champions Trophy but have failed to go all the way. They went down to Sri Lanka by six wickets in the 2014 World T20 final in Mirpur.

In the 2015 World Cup, they made the semi-finals, where they lost to Australia by 95 runs in Sydney. West Indies’ brutal batting saw India getting beaten in the 2016 World T20 semis in Mumbai by seven wickets.

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 the last four years, Team India have gone down in the 2017 Champions Trophy final and the 2019 ICC World Cup semi-final before recently losing the WTC final.