'They don't win anything': Michael Vaughan labels India as one of the most underachieving cricket teams in the world

| TOI Sports Desk | TIMESOFINDIA.COM | Dec 29, 2023, 21:57 IST

Former England captain Michael Vaughan said on Friday that the In... Read More

NEW DELHI: With India unable to land an ICC trophy in over a decade now, former England captain Michael Vaughan labeled the side as most underachieving cricket teams in the world.

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Vaughan pointed out that despite the talent and resources at its disposal, India haven't been able to produce noteworthy performances.

India's last ICC trophy came in 2013 when MS Dhoni led the side to Champions Trophy triumph.

While talking in a Fox Sports panel discussion during the second Test between Australia and Pakistan at the MCG, Vaughan started the conversation thread on the Indian team, posing a question to former Australian batsman Mark Waugh.

"Do you think, in terms of cricket, India are one of the most underachieving sports teams in the world," Vaughan asked Waugh.

But the Aussie preferred to deflect the question back to Vaughan.

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"They haven't won much in recent times. I think they are (an underachieving side). They don't win anything. When was the last time they won something? With all the talent they have, all the skill-set (they should have achieved more," said Vaughan.

India's long wait for an ICC trophy continues

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The last time Team India won an ICC ODI World Cup was in 2011, under the leadership of Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Two years later India went on to win another ICC trophy - the ICC Champions Trophy 2013 under the same captain.

A year after the ICC Champions Trophy victory MS Dhoni-led India went to Bangladesh to play the ICC T20 World Cup 2014. India entered the final but lost to Sri Lanka by six wickets shattering more than a billion dreams.

In the ICC ODI World Cup 2015, India, went into the tournament as defending champions, suffered a 95-run defeat at the hands of Australia in the semifinal at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

In the 2016 T20 World Cup, India had yet another opportunity to lift an ICC Trophy at home. India faced West Indies in the semifinal but lost to the Men in Maroon by 7 wickets at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

In the beginning of 2017, MS Dhoni passed on the captaincy baton to Virat Kohli and the Indian run machine led the team in the ICC Champions Trophy in England. Under Virat's leadership, India entered the final but lost the title clash to Pakistan at the Oval in London.

In 2019 (ODI World Cup), India entered the semifinal but lost to New Zealand in a rain-affected match by 18 runs at the Old Trafford stadium in Manchester.

In 2021, India made it to the ICC World Test Championship final after finishing on top of the WTC table 2019-2021. India faced New Zealand in the final, losing the match by eight wickets at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton.

In the 2021 T20 World Cup in the UAE, India had a poor start in the tournament as they lost to Pakistan and then New Zealand. India went on to beat Afghanistan, Scotland, and Namibia in the other group-stage matches but it wasn't enough to take them to the semifinal stage.

The 2005 Ashes-winning England captain conceded that India's series clinching efforts in Australia were stupendous, but added that the Men in Blue have failed to perform in World Cups.

"They've won in Australia twice (Test series in 2018/19 and 2020/21). Magnificent. But the last few World Cups, (they have) been nowhere, in the last few T20 World Cups, (they have) been nowhere," he added.

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Vaughan said India should have achieved way more than what they have done considering the talent in their ranks.

"They're a good team. They have got plenty of talent but with all the talent they have and the resources they have, I just don't think they win," he said.

(With inputs from PTI)

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Top Comment

land broker

360 days ago

It is true a few players always play to win, like Kapil Dev, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma and Dravid irrespective of who is captain and who is coach. A few players intentionally get out for few runs or play defensively for a long time and make sure India gets defeated in crucial matches. But, they perform well in other matches to compensate for this poor performance in order to always remain in the team. Everybody knows this, including the selectors and officials. They also don't want to win, they want to select players who are close to them and not who play well. It is enough if 2 or 3 players decide to lose, nothing can be achieved. But the English people and Australians are different, they don't know how to play to lose like the Indians. Try to know before you comment.

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'They don't win anything': Michael Vaughan labels India as one of the most underachieving cricket teams in the world

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