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Can you imagine former India captain Sourav Ganguly calling then chairman of the selection committee Dilip Vengsarkar and telling him to pick him Sachin Tendulkar for the 2007 inaugural T20 World Cup in South Africa? Seventeen year later, something on those lines has happened. Rohit Sharma called Ajit Agarkar and told him that both he and Virat Kohli are ready for the 2024 T20 World Cup.
The only difference between now and then is that the selectors took a call not to include the seniors after a dismal 50-over World Cup performance in the West Indies and somehow managed to send a young team under MS Dhoni. Now, there is not much of a young team. The Indian selectors have adopted a policy to go ahead with reputation over form, seniors over juniors.
With Rohit already making it clear that India would need the experience of Kohli because of the slowness of the West Indies tracks at the business end of the tournament and his friendship blooming under their uncertain white ball future, India can only hope for a miracle. Yes, miracles do happen and 2007 was one such event for India, wherein everyone saw how magic unfolded.
If India were a true T20 champion side, they wouldn’t have struggled all this while. With almost all of the teams doing so well in T20 World Cups over the years, like the West Indies, England, Pakistan, and Australia, what is India’s standing? From the time the IPL happened, India has never won a T20 World Cup, why?
Strong likes and dislikes of the Indian captains over the years have also contributed to India not winning a T20 World Cup over the years. Some of the captains have catered to their friends at the cost of superlative T20 performers. The timing of selecting the right players for the right job has never been the cup of the team for the recent selectors. The, there were captains who blamed IPL for their T20 World Cup losses.
From the time, weak selectors with lesser credentials have taken over, India has struggled to right combination for the ICC events. That is because of the powerful captains who had the fortune to make their teams. It was never the selectors who had the will and mind to build a team like the previous generation selectors did.
The powers of the team management are so strong that after India lost the 2022 T20 World Cup, the Indian board officials admitted that the selectors can’t be blamed for the team’s dismal performances on the world stage. It is the coach and the captain who wanted certain players to be included in the 15-member squad and they were duly acknowledged. The selectors have a minuscule level of power to push their thinking. The best case example is the 2024 IPL final teams — KKR and SRH, none of their Indian players are a part of the Indian T20 team for the World Cup.
It is like RP Singh, a member of the cricket advisory committee, picking Rahul Dravid as a head coach. The fact that India can’t get powerful selectors is costing us dear. From the time, India had weak selectors, we have been weak on the field. Because the students are examiners in our cricket system!
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