THE ASIAN INDEPENDENT UK
Bal Ram Sampla
Geopolitics
There is no point in sugarcoating it anymore. India’s cricket team is in absolute shambles. Watching a team that calls itself “World Champions” get effortlessly destroyed by nine wickets in just 13.5 overs is disgusting. First, they struggled against Ireland,a match they should have won in their sleep, and now they have been thoroughly humiliated by England. This isn’t just a bad patch of form. It is a gutless, embarrassing capitulation by players who look like they don’t even want to be on the field.
Cowards Against the Short Ball
Let’s be honest about the batting: it was pathetic. On a perfectly flat, easy batting pitch where runs should have been a certainty, India crawled to a miserable 158. Why? Because the batsmen showed utter cowardice the moment the ball bounced above their waists.
Watching elite international players literally back away from the stumps, hop around in panic, and blindly poke at short balls was humiliating. Aside from Shreyas Iyer, who actually showed some backbone for his 80, the rest of the lineup folded like a deck of cards. But he batted too slow. Shivam Dube consuming 23 balls to score a painful 22 runs in a modern T20 game is a sporting crime. The opposition has found India’s weakness, and right now, India’s batsmen look too scared to fix it.
Atrocious Team Selection
The people running this team are just as guilty as the players. The current team selection is an absolute joke. The selectors are picking players based on their famous names, past achievements, and advertising value rather than how they are actually playing right now.
You cannot run a world-class team on sentimentality. Keeping useless, out-of-form players in the squad ruins the team’s hunger and protects lazy mediocrity.
When England came out to chase, India’s bowling attack looked completely toothless. There was no plan, no energy, and zero fight. Phil Salt and Harry Brook didn’t just beat India; they mocked them, hitting boundaries at will because the bowling was slow, predictable, and weak.
Fire Them Immediately
It is time to stop giving these players “one more chance.” The management needs to grow a spine, stop protecting fragile egos, and start firing people.
Any player who is terrified of a fast short ball or who can’t score at a decent run rate needs to be permanently discarded from the team. They don’t deserve the jersey. If India’s management doesn’t completely wipe the slate clean, sack the dead weight, and bring in hungry young players who actually want to fight, this team will continue to be a laughing stock on the world stage.
India 158 -7 20 overs
England 159-1 13.5 overs
