Are India the new chokers?

Mental toughness is the key to success in any game. It was proved by New Zealand in the ICC Cricket World Cup semi-final against India when they successfully defended a modest total of 239. India, who were the favourites for the World Cup, choked when they were but two steps away from the trophy. India finished at the top of the table after the league matches. TheWorld Cup’smost successful batsman Rohit Sharma, and skipper Virat Kohli are good chasers, but they could not take India home when the team needed their services the most. Before the match it was expected that it would be a contest between the famed Indian batting and Trent Boult’s sharp swing bowling. Indian batsmen concentrated on Boult butMatt Henry shattered the Indians’ dream from the other end. After the defeat in the semifinal, the players received a lot of flak.

How people take cricket in the sub-continent can be judged from the fact that two cricket fans lost their lives while watching the match. According tomedia reports, the first incident occurred in Bihar where a fan felt breathlessness while watching the match andwas shifted to a hospital where doctors declared him dead and said he suffered a heart attack. In another incident, a cycle shop owner died of cardiac arrestwhilewatching the game in West Bengal. He collapsed in his shop as soon as MS Dhoni got out. He was rushed to a hospitalwhere hewas declared dead. India captain Virat Kohli has urged frustrated Indian fans not to get emotional after their shock CricketWorld Cup semifinal defeat to New Zealand.

“Yes, disappointment is there in a loss but don’t take it to extreme,” Kohli said after the semi-final. Former Indian captain Sachin Tendulkar said: “I am disappointed because we should have chased 240 without any problems. It wasn’t a big total, feeling the team had become too reliant on their superstars.” Critics say that former skipper MS Dhoni is no longer the finisher that he was. He hasn’t finished matches with the authority and the calmnesswhich were his trademarks. But another former captain Sourav Ganguly criticised the decision to send Dhoni on number seven. “Dhoni should have batted up.

You need that composure and not just his batting. He could have provided a cool head to help the younger batsmen around him. India needed experience at that stage. If Dhoni was there when Pant was batting, he would not have allowed Pant to play that shot against the breeze,” he said. Dominating in the group stages but failing miserably in the knockout stages is a big concern for team India. It was not the first time that India choked at a decisive moment. India deserve the tag of “chokers” more than South Africa. These comments were written by former Indian captain and expert Sunil Gavaskar for a newspaper after Australia slaughtered India in two consecutive finals and won the VB serieswithout any resistance in February 2004.

South Africa earned the tag of “chokers” after losing a few big games froma winning position under pressure, including the 1999 World Cup semi-final in England against Australia. India lost to Sri Lanka in the ICC World T20 final in Dhaka on April 6, 2014. Sri Lanka beat India by six wickets. India managed to score only 130 runs and their bowlers could not defend it. In 2015, India lost to Australia inWorld Cup semi-final at Sydney. India were bowled out for 233 while chasing 328. The top and middle order again failed to perform well. Virat Kohli, who was the biggest hope for India, managed just one run. India choked again — this time in their own backyard — when they lost toWest Indies in the ICC World Twenty20 semifinal in 2016 at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. India scored a massive 196 runs and were favourites to confirm another World T20 final birth. But the Indian bowlers failed to defend that total. The most famous defeat of India came against arch-rivals Pakistan in the 2017 Champions Trophy final in England. Indiawere favourites to defend their title. They had beaten Pakistan in the group match convincingly and qualified for the final without facing any tough competition. Yet again, the Indian top order choked, as Mohammad Amir removed their top three batsmen.

Amir dismissed Rohit Sharma (0), Virat Kohli (5) and Shikhar Dhawan (21). Pakistan won the ICC Champions Trophy with a huge margin. Despite all the above-mentioned defeats in the knock out matches, India remain among the best. India won the first World T20 in South Africa in 2007, a triangular series in Australia for the first time in 2007- 08, the Compaq Cup in 2009, Asia Cup in 2010, the 50-overs World Cup in 2011 and the Champions Trophy in 2013.

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