Rohit Sharma, India’s captain, stared blankly into the distance and appeared likely to break down at any moment. It was probably a good thing he was totally lost in his thoughts.
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Because in his vision was rather grim looking Indian fans, totalling 90,000 most of whom garbed in blue, trudging out of the Narendra Modi Stadium terraces in disbelief that India’s World Cup dreams had ended with a humiliating defeat to Australia.
Virat Kohli, India’s talisman and one of the most famous people in his country, could not bear look at these macabre scenes. He smartly had his blue India cap covering his face and he was soon snapped out of his funk by his wife Anushka Sharma, the famous Bollywood star, who consoled him with a hearty embrace.
India’s two biggest cricket figures could not quite fathom that their country’s decade-long title jinx had not ended. India had completely dominated their home 50-over World Cup to such a degree that they were being compared to the all-time greatest teams in the tournament’s near 50-year history.
But after completely being befuddled by an Australian team that once again lifted when the stakes were at its highest, India were being labelled as a cricket underachiever. Even the dreaded c-word – choke, to be clear – was being used. But what other word could be used to explain India’s baffling title drought that has lasted since 2013.
India are obviously the undisputed powerhouse in cricket, with all eyes focused on them every time they step on the field. The fandom from their devout followers is feverish. Only winning is acceptable, everything else is deemed a failure.
And there have been a lot of failures over the past decade with India continually falling short despite almost always starting as favorites. It’s again the case with India starting the 20-team T20 World Cup as the team to beat.
Despite a push for renewal amid the bloodletting over India’s unsuccessful World Cup efforts, the hierarchy persisted with Rohit as skipper and Kohli, who had endured some struggles in the T20 format before a bounce back at the recently concluded IPL season.
Although once again, frustratingly, Kohli was left disappointed after he failed to break through for his first IPL title.
Even though the next T20 World Cup is just two years away, underlining cricket’s saturation of major tournaments, this looms as Rohit and Kohli’s last dance. Both won World Cups very early in their careers, back when they were exciting, unfulfilled talents
But it’s been a barren run during their peak years and the lack of titles has slightly tarnished the legacies of India’s two most powerful cricket figures.
Make no mistake, India – like always – has the most talented and deepest team in the tournament. There are no excuses. They are absolutely loaded at every position and have new blood in big-hitters Suryakumar Yadav and Yashasvi Jaiswal, who make Kohli’s orthodox batting look archaic.
After the two-month IPL, India’s players won’t have time for a breather and they’ve already linked up in New York ahead of their only practice match against Bangladesh at the Nassau County Stadium in Long Island on June 1 – on the same day as the World Cup starts.
Americans will get a taste of cricket’s rock star team with India entirely based in the U.S. during the group stage as the ICC wisely anchored cricket’s money-spinner in its target country. They play three matches in the $30 million New York stadium, including against bitter rival Pakistan in a game estimated to make $15 million in gate revenue, and the other in Lauderhill, Florida.
But the early stages should be relatively a breeze for India as they put on a show under the bright lights of the world’s most famous city. India are set to be etched in New York sports lore, but greater challenges await during the business end played in the Caribbean.
It’s where India can finally shed their status of being cricket’s biggest underachiever.
