Dhoni finds lack of match-practice as reason for India's poor outing in England
What's the story
All Indians are slowly trying to get over the fact that India suffered a 1-4 defeat in the England series, and me repeating the fact doesn't make it any better. Nevertheless, now is the time for introspection, so that the team may be able to at least form an idea of where they went wrong.
And now, MS Dhoni has also spoken, adding to the many causes that have already been cited as reasons for the debacle. According to him, lack of practice matches played a crucial role in preventing a successful outing in England.
In case you didn't know...
A controversy regarding the few numbers of practice matches was already brewing even as the tour was just getting underway. For instance, the Indian players had a time period of at least two weeks to prepare in July, ahead of the Test matches that started on August 1st. But only three of those fourteen days were used to play a cut-short practice game, while on the remaining days the players simply chose to take off-days.
The one practice match that India played, against Essex, was supposed to be a four-day event, but even that game was cut short to three days due to uncertain reasons. At around the same time, skipper Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri had insisted in a press conference that the team was "ready to take on England in their own backyard".
The details
Finally, the series concluded on September 11th, and the scoreline was, as mentioned above, horrendous. Contrary to the captain's and coach's words, nobody else apart from Kohli himself seemed to be prepared to take on England. On Wednesday, September 12th, Dhoni then spoke up on how the lack of practice may have played an important role in the side's poor showing.
"Indian team missed out on playing practice matches before the series, which is why the batsmen are finding it difficult to adjust. This is a part of the game. We shouldn't forget that India is currently No. 1 in the rankings," Dhoni said. He was speaking at an event organized by the CISF at the Birsa Munda Airport, Ranchi.
What's next
Coming up next is the Asia Cup, defending champions India may find the absence of rested Virat Kohli as a botheration, given the unpredictability of the performance levels of almost everyone else in the rest of the squad.
MS Dhoni will also return to action for the national side, and hopefully, his presence will drive India to a performance that will eclipse the one they exhibited in England.