New Delhi: MS Dhoni’s “tactical errors” and the poor form of some senior players were the main reasons for India’s early exit from the World Twenty20, according to former cricketers who said that there was no need for making drastic changes in the team despite the debacle.
While Dhoni came under fire, some former cricketers, like Sunil Gavaskar, were not in favour of changing the captain or making too many changes in the team.
India failed to qualify for the semifinals of World Twenty20 on net run rate and former cricketers said the team’s repeated failures in this format should be analysed and corrective measures should be taken.
Former Indian captains like Gavaskar, Anil Kumble, Dilip Vengsarkar and Ajit Wadekar and a host of other ex-cricketers felt that a combination of factors led to India’s ouster from the World T20. Some of Dhoni’s decisions also evoked criticism from the former players.
Former India opener Chetan Chauhan said that Dhoni had to take responsibility for the team’s failure.
“The tournament is played in the sub-continent. We are used to these conditions. We have been to Sri Lanka, we played very well against them. Keeping this fact, I thought that we should have reached the semifinals.
“A captain has to take responsibility, he is the captain. I would not blame him alone, I would blame the entire team. A captain is as good as the team. If you don’t perform, a captain could not do anything,” Chauhan said.
“These are all the factors, plus at few stages Dhoni did make mistakes in decisions, like against Australia, there was no need to rest Virender Sehwag,” he added.
Chauhan said except for Virat Kohli, none of the batsmen were consistent.
Kumble also agreed that one of the main reasons for India’s debacle was the poor form of the top-order batsmen.
“Virender Sehwag was not in form. You want your top four to fire in T20 format and when three out of your four top batsmen are not in great always trying to settle in then get big score, it does not work,” he said.
Former opener Arun Lal said that India had a “terrific side that promised to go all the way but one bad match did the damage”.
Chetan Sharma put a little more blame on the captain, saying, “I think the entire team should not be blamed for the exit. Only Dhoni is to be blamed. He should accept his responsibility and stop blaming rain (for India’s ouster),” Sharma said about Dhoni’s excuse following the heavy defeat against Australia. Sharma also could not understand why Harbhajan was not used more in the series. (PTI)