India all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin has shared his views on India’s lack of an ICC trophy since 2013 and stated that just because former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni led the team to a World Cup win in his first attempt as a captain doesn’t mean it can be assumed the same for others that have followed or come before.
“It’s easy to say you haven’t won this and so on. After the 1983 World Cup, the great Sachin Tendulkar played the 1992, 1996, 1999, 2003, and 2007 World Cups. He finally won the World Cup in 2011. He had to wait for 6 World Cups to finally win one,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel. “Just because another stalwart MS Dhoni came and won a World Cup as soon as he took charge, doesn’t mean it’ll happen to everyone, right?”
The off-spinner further urged the fans to be patient with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli on the same accounts.
“These players (Rohit and Virat), didn’t play in 2007. Rohit Sharma missed out on the 2011 World Cup. Only Kohli played in 2011, 2015, 2019 and now he will play his fourth World Cup in 2023. ‘He hasn’t won an ICC tournament’ they say. He has won it in 2011, he has won the 2013 Champions Trophy. Rohit Sharma has also won the 2013 Champions Trophy. So, we can give them space guys. They are playing bilaterals, IPL, and so many other matches. When it comes to ICC tournaments, you need those crucial moments to go your way,” he said.
Since winning the 2013 Champions Trophy in England, India have featured in three ICC finals (2014 T20 World Cup, 2017 Champions Trophy and 2021 World Test Championship) and four semifinals (2015 ODI World Cup, 2016 T20 World Cup, 2019 ODI World Cup and 2022 T20 World Cup) but haven’t been able to win clutch knockout games to go all the way.
With the ODI World Cup being played at home later this year, Rohit Sharma and co. will be under pressure to end the ongoing trophy drought. Keep their home record intact in bilaterals, the men in blue whitewashed Sri Lanka and New Zealand in the three match series earlier this month.