India's Shocking Elimination From The Twenty20 2009 World Cup

India’s elimination from the Twenty20 World Cup 2009 will come as a shock around the world and with anger in India by fans and the media. The other nations and fans will be celebrating India elimination but with the huge fans they have around the world and particular in England, the sponsorships and revenue India generate the longer they last in tournaments is of benefit to all.

Anyone supporting India will be saying only if Yusuf or Yuvraj came in ahead of Jadeja, or they did not leak too many runs, if they only had Sehwag was fit, or the bowlers were on form etc and they may have won the match and may have won the World Cup. But India never looked liked a team that could win this World Cup, there batting, bowling and fielding was poor compared to the standards they have set themselves recently.

Many have to realize that under Dhoni’s captaincy and Kirsten as coach they have had a long successful run in all formats of the game and the elimination is one blip on there cv so far and these two are cricket men and have the brains learn from this. The team still has a lot of talent and promise and should not forget they are challenging for number one in the test and one day rankings. There is always a silver lining and for South Africa who lost 4-0 in the one day series last summer have learnt from there mistakes and come back strongly and have become the team to beat in T20.

For the critics to severely criticize this Indian team need to look at the recent success, test series win in England, T20 World Cup in South Africa, CB Series in Australia, Test and One Day Series in New Zealand and in conditions they would normally struggle. They have come unstuck and players such as Sharma, Raina, Ishant and etc looked poor but they will come back strongly and prove the critics wrong. Dhoni’s captaincy and batting form was a worry as many know Dhoni as a innovative and creative captain but this time around his tactics looked bad and his role as a batsmen is not clear as there are a number of times during the series he should have attacked the bowling but he was happy to take ones and twos which has slowed down and cost India which cannot happen in T20.

The volume of the cricket played by the Indian team over the last 9 months has taken its affect in the World Cup whether some will say that is an excuse but they are humans. Tiredness was a factor which was seen clearly in all three aspects, also one the biggest problem was at the top of the order once Sehwag was sent home due to injury. Whether there was an argument between Dhoni and Sehwag they need to settle there difference as it has shown that India rely on Sehwag as he could have provided them the quick starts they missed, but they also need to find replacements who do a similar role such as Manish Pandey, so building a stronger squad that Dhoni can call on. The form of Zaheer and Ishant was a worry but India do have bowlers such as Munaf, RP, Sreesanth but need to ensure they manage there workloads as fast bowlers are the most vulnerable to injuries.

For the last 10 years or more the pitches in India have been criticized for being flat and this is still a problem even with the success they have had recently. They need to create fast and bouncy pitches that allow batsmen work on there skills and techniques and when they come up against the attacks such England and West Indies who tested them they will be prepared and able to counter attack it.

As we all know the Indian media are going to crucify the Indian team for there elimination and all the players know what to expect once they return home. It will be over the top and it is the most intense pressure from any of the other cricketing nations but they all know the consequences when they win they will be treated as royalty when they lose they will be sold to the highest bidder.

The wounded dog is always at its most vulnerable when down and the West Indies should be warned.