The Indian cricket team faced an embarrassing defeat against England, following which, they were knocked out of the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 at the Adelaide Oval. With the defeat India continued their below-par performance in the knockouts of the ICC events. The Men in Blue’s hunt for an elite ICC trophy got extended after this disappointing end at the T20 World Cup 2022. Ever since the year 2012, the Indian cricket team hasn’t won a single ICC trophy. Though, they have played as many as four semi-finals and two finals, but the side has failed to get their hands on the prestigious ICC trophies.
Now with the ICC ODI World Cup coming up next year, the Indian side will have another opportunity in a mega ICC event. However, India’s chances of winning the trophy will depend on the preparations and not much time is left for it.
Ahead of the world cup, former Indian cricketer, Mohammad Kaif feels the management needs to handpick players soon and keep giving them opportunities until the showpiece event, which is scheduled to be played in October-November next year.
Speaking on Prime Video, the official broadcaster of the India-New Zealand series, Kaif said: “The England team which won the World Cup recently, the average age of the squad was 31, so having experienced players always works someway or the other.”
He added: “And if India wants to start the preparations for the World Cup, they need to do it from here, the ongoing series against New Zealand. Because there are not many ODIs, maybe 25 till the World Cup.”
Furthermore, Kaif claimed that India’s bowling is the biggest problem. He highlighted a major issue by pointing out how Bhuvneshwar Kumar is now a part of the current squad which is locking horns with the Black Caps in te ongoing series. He said:
“The main problem is bowling. If you see Shardul (Thakur) isn’t playing the 2nd ODI, you’ve sent (Mohammed) Siraj home, he could have played in the ODIs. Why is Bhuvneshwar Kumar not in the squad, I have no clue. He’s a good bowler, but he is not part of the squad. In the search for new players, we are losing out on the old ones. There’s a saying: in search of diamonds, we lost the gold.”
He added:
“You had good players in the squad so this shouldn’t be the case. If you’re backing someone, please do it nicely. The preparation starts from here, there’s no time for experiments. The months will pass away and suddenly you’ll find yourself approaching the World Cup. So you decide on the players and keep backing them,”
Mohammad Kaif also heaped praises on India’s new pace sensation Umran Malik, who has got everyone talking about him because of his raw pace and amazing bowling skills. Kaif has backed Malik as he believes the youngster should be kept in the scheme of things for the showpiece event. He said:
“Umran Malik, the extra pace that we often talk about, (Jasprit) Bumrah got injured at the T20 World Cup, there was no one with that kind of pace. The three pacers – Arshdeep (Singh), Bhuvneshwar Kumar and (Mohammed) Shami all three of them bowl nearly at the same pace. In the World Cup we missed someone, who can bowl 145 cases per hour. Someone like Umran Malik, definitely, back him from here on,”
