Team India didn’t have a good 2022, a forgettable year with certainly more disappointments than 2020 and 2021.India lost the Test series in South Africa, despite taking a lead, and were white-washed 3-0 in ODIs too by the Proteas. Though they clean swept the home season across the three formats, the heartbreaks and failures at the big tournaments came in the Asia Cup in the UAE and the T20 World Cup in Australia both times India failed to reach the finals. In between India also lost the Edgbaston Test to England, though they won the white-ball series.
The final nail in the coffin of frustrations for the Indian fans was an ODI loss to Bangladesh in Dhaka.
With a collective dismal team performance, there were also individuals who didn’t step up when needed.
Here are the 5 disappointing performers for Team India in 2022:
Mayank Agarwal
In the absence of Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal had hit a fifty in the Boxing Day Test in South Africa in the last Test of 2021, but he then registered scores of 23, 26, 15, and 7 as India lost the last two Tests in South Africa.
Then when KL Rahul was injured, Agarwal played in two more Tests – vs Sri Lanka at home – scoring a total of 59 runs. He was then dropped from the team when all of KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, and Shubman Gill were available for selection. It remains unlikely that Agarwal will get a recall anytime soon to the Test side.
Ruturaj Gaikwad
On the back of a sensational IPL 2021, Ruturaj Gaikwad, though, failed to make his chances count for Team India when the seniors were rested.
He featured in 7 T20Is and 1 ODI in 2022, scoring only 119 runs at a poor average of 17 and strike rate of 97 with just one fifty-plus score despite batting at the top and his teammates grabbing their opportunities with impactful performances. Fans were left wanting for more from the CSK opener when in India colors.
Avesh Khan
Avesh Khan was identified by the management as their T20 high-pace bowler and got plenty of T20Is – 15 matches – this year to prove his worth at the international level when the senior bowlers were absent. The 25-year-old, though, couldn’t inspire confidence in the team management – 13 wickets in 15 T20Is while leaking at more than 9 runs an over – and was dropped after the Asia Cup, not to be picked again yet.
Hanuma Vihari
The fact that Hanuma Vihari has been dropped from the upcoming Bangladesh Test series tells that the selectors and the management were unimpressed by Vihari’s performances in 2022 – in 7 Test innings this year, Vihari averaged a decent 35; Vihari was tried at number 3 after Pujara was dropped, but he couldn’t score big in that position and faced the ax.
Shikhar Dhawan
India’s ODI specialist left-handed opener, Shikhar Dhawan’s average of 37 in 20 ODIs this year is under-par; more disappointing and concerning is his strike rate of 74 in the ODIs in 2022. He has only one score of more than 30 in his last 7 ODI innings.
Dhawan has the management’s backing, but if he continues to under-perform, the management might ponder over picking the more in-form and more aggressive Shubman Gill and dropping the veteran left-hander. India wouldn’t want to carry any bogey players as they approach the 2023 ODI World Cup.
