June 16th, 2009 had been one of the most disappointing days in my life when India marched towards victory and finally gave it comfortably to England in 20-20 World Cup. Indians did know it was a do or die game for them, but what an insipid playing!. The target was not so huge to be unachievable and given the strong Indian batting line up, the match should have slid their way so easily but rather slipped. Irresponsible cricket by Dhoni and Jadeja had cost the game so much. I really didn’t understand why Dhoni didn’t even try to hit hard when the required run rate/over was more than 10. The way how Dhoni played was too casual, not showing any enthusiasm or interest towards the game. And it’s always a big question of what made him decide not to give RP Singh bowl the final over, after his excellent spell of 1/13 in 3 overs. India being portrayed as the favorites to win the World Cup didn’t even qualify in Super 8. And if you look at the teams they won against, are Ireland and Bangladesh. With such a very good balanced team that every other captain would be envious of, what went wrong? Was Overconfidence the obstructer? Or Dhoni and his boys were too busy acting in advertisements (Dhoni features in almost 50% of the advertisements ranging from watch, fan, network, drink and what not)? Or the fatigue that set within the players after IPL?
In addition to this, there are too much speculations and rumours on team's unity. And with all senior players like Sehwag, Yuvraj, Dhoni leading their IPL teams, their ego also rises (That could be the reason for Sehwag’s injury even). And obviously a team without Sehwag is a great setback. However, the rest of the team could have very well managed without him. With huge expectations floating around, the loss was a big shock to all fans. So where is the Indian team heading to? Are the glorious days coming to an end? Are days of pride over? Time will answer these questions. Dhoni, who lead the way all around winning the world Cup last year, now leads the way for the Indians in returning home. Bon voyage, Indian team. Welcome back defending champions (empty handed).
