IND vs WI 2022: "MS Dhoni was very serious about all the guys" - Pragyan Ojha on why India won 2011 World Cup
Former Indian left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha isn't impressed with the constant chopping and changing of players in the current Indian team with less than three months remaining for the T20 World Cup.
The 35-year-old cited the example of how former Indian captain MS Dhoni prepared the team for the 2011 World Cup. Ojha explained that Dhoni was determined to give as much game time as possible to the pool of players that he felt would play a vital role in the World Cup.
Speaking on FanCode on Monday, here's what Pragyan Ojha had to say about Dhoni's leadership:
"I strongly feel that the reason the 2011 World Cup was a success for us was because MS Dhoni was very serious about all the guys who were going to be in the mix. The 25 or 30 needed to play at least 40 games before the World Cup started."
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The pool of players got ample experience of dealing with crunch situations, which went on to help them during the big games in the tournament. On this, Ojha said:
"You may have scored a lot of runs but if you don’t have the experience of dealing with various situations, you may not feel it during the league matches but definitely during the most important games, the knockouts, the semi-finals and the finals. That is when that experience really helps you."
Pragyan Ojha on depth of talent in Indian cricket
Due to the amount of talent that Indian cricket possesses, any player who wishes to cement his spot in the playing XI might not get many chances, according to Ojha. With the team management rotating the senior players, it is important for those who come into their place to perform and make a strong claim for themselves.
On this, Ojha stated:
"When you talk about Indian cricket right now, you may not get 10 games but just five or even three because the pool is huge. Competition has become neck to neck. Players are performing so you have to bring your A game, and if you do not perform and another guy does and some senior play gets back in, then unfortunately you will miss out."
Ending the series with a special knock 🇮🇳
Onwards & Upwards 💯 https://t.co/nRLut2wvMq
The former left-arm spinner then gave the example of players like Suryakumar Yadav and Deepak Hooda, who with their T20I hundreds, have made it almost impossible for the selectors to drop them from the squad:
"Look at what Suryakumar Yadav has done. He’s getting hundreds. Deepak Hooda got a hundred. If you are scoring hundreds, in any format and at any level, then people start noticing you."
The Men in Blue still have quite a few T20Is to play before the T20 World Cup and that will bring a window of opportunity for some fringe players to make a genuine impact.