What is transpiring in Team India?


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The Indian cricket team seems to be stuck in a labyrinth of perplexing circumstances, puzzling decisions and unanswered questions. From the outside, a glass onion. You can't figure out what is going on or what the truth is, the only thing you can do is peel back the layers and get to the centre.

Amidst the chaos, the Indian management seems demented and short-sighted. 


Selection committee disarray 

To begin with the biggest derangement of the BCCI, the selection committee seems to be in complete disarray. It all began in October 2022 when alarming reports arose concerning the senior selection committee. Word was if team India doesn't steal the show at the T20 World Cup 2022 the selection committee will be shown the door. 

Expectedly, India didn't fare well in the marquee event. The committee, led by Chetan Sharma, was soon in shambles. In a twinkling, BCCI announced that the panel had been sacked. 

The board puffed its chest and laid out the conditions. The new appointments would be completely capable, with rigid qualifications and popular support. The public was pumped. 

Then, in January 2023, once again, alarming reports arose concerning the senior selection committee: Chetan Sharma is set to be back as the leading man in the selection panel. The public was thumped. 


Injuries galore

Around the time of the 2022 World Cup (the hotspot of happenings), one of the best of India, Jasprit Bumrah was ruled out of the World Cup following a back stress fracture. This was just the beginning, soon a can of analgesic gel opened up as several other players were announced injured. 

Kuldeep Sen, Prasidh Krishna, Navdeep Saini, Deepak Chahar and many more were injured, repeatedly. Was it the workload? Was it NCA's fault? Was the management neglecting or undermining players' physical health? We'll never know. 


What's with all the workload?

If the recurring injuries are an indication of something, it is that players might be having a tough time managing their workload. No matter how rich the board is, it cannot afford to travel with a tired team. 

After the WTC Final, India played 4 consecutive and hectic Test matches against England, then came the IPL, the T20 World Cup 2022, New Zealand series, then Bangladesh and now Sri Lanka which will then be followed by the very stressful IPL. Series keep coming in one after the other with no space for physical and most importantly mental rest. Also take into consideration the bio-bubbles and the implications it has had on players. 


Cutting off players prematurely 

We get that cricket in India is an exceptionally competitive area and that making it into the international circuit is a gruelling process but cutting off players prematurely is not it. In the recent past, it has happened more than once that players who were performing were left-out whereas the ones who struggled in international games found themselves cementing deeper into the squad. 

Kuldeep Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Rahul Tripathi, Prithvi Shaw. You name it. 


Lucid future

Three marquee events in two successive years. Team India cannot escape the spotlight. Even days before the 2022 T20I World Cup, there was no buttress in the team combination. At the present moment, India stays on the same track. Trial and errors with no result. The squad has no foundation and no solid combination. If  there is a game-plan, it's well hidden. 


Also Read: Jasprit Bumrah ruled out of ODI series against Sri Lanka