The Indian Hardship in Cricket World Cup 2019

Cricket World Cup 2019 has to be the biggest center stage for all the cricketing nations, their fans, and most importantly for the players who were the ambassadors of the tournament.  It was make and break kind of a tournament for many cricketers. ICC WC 19 saw the end of some legends of the sports too. It was a Round Robin Tournament, first since World Cup 92 and only second in the history of the World Cups.


The host England and New Zealand were the two finalists in the World Cup 19. The final was played at the Lord’s Cricket Ground. England won the Cup because of the match-winning performance of luck and Ben Stokes. There was a tie after 100 overs of play and it again tied after the super over. The winner was decided by the Boundary Rule. England won because they scored more boundaries.


New Zealand defeated India in the semifinals. England and India were the two favorites for the tournament. Virat Kohli, the Indian Skipper in the post-match conference after the semifinal said “45 minutes of bad cricket put you out of the World Cup”, but it wasn’t just that. Indian team made many other mistakes apart from that.

India was one of the top contenders to lift the Cup. Indian opener, Rohit Sharma was in the form of his life during the tournament. He scored 5 centuries in the World Cup, no other player had done that miracle in the history of the game.


 Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan were also on song in the tournament. Every other contender was scared of the Indian top three batsmen. MS Dhoni and Mohammad Shami won the match of the series award in the series against Australia and New Zealand which were held prior to the World Cup. Hardik Pandya had his best IPL with both bat and ball. And, the Indian bowling attack was regarded as the best attack in the tournament.

With so many positives, then also Indian team never fully played on their full potential during their World Cup campaign. The team won seven out of nine games. They lost just one game against England but never won a game in a convincing fashion. There were some reasons apart from “the 45 minutes’ bad play”, one of them was the World Cup squad selection.


Ambati Rayudu - the permanent Number 4 batsman for team India wasn’t included in the side. Thus, the middle-order remained the problem for the team in the entire World Cup. No one in the middle order performed apart from MS Dhoni. Shankar, Karthik, Jadhav, Pant - None of the middle-order batsmen played according to their potential.

The second reason was not playing Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal together and juggling Mohammad Shami and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Indian bowling was the most lethal attack in the tournament but the right bowling combination never played.

The other reason was player injuries which led to their replacements. Shikhar Dhawan and Vijay Shankar got injured during the team’s campaign but not right replacements were selected. Rishabh Pant and Mayank Agarwal were replacements when India had the option available in Ambati Rayudu or experienced Ajinkya Rahane who was playing in England at that time.


In sports, one day you win and the other day you might lose. That’s the beauty of sports; no one always remains at the top. Losing or getting knocked out of the tournament is part and parcel of the game but the Indian team had a golden opportunity of lifting the World Cup again, which they missed. With the next ODI World Cup to be played in India in the year 2023; The Indian team has another opportunity. Till then, better luck next time!

Location: New Delhi, Delhi, India

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