Former Pakistan wicketkeeper Rashid Latif believes Team India's 10-year-long drought in ICC events has been due to internal conflicts among their star players.
The Men in Blue seemed favorites to win the 2019 World Cup but crashed out of the semifinal in heartbreaking fashion. Their dismal showing in the 2021 T20 World Cup saw captain Virat Kohli step down from captaincy. However, Rohit Sharma's taking over hasn't gone to plan yet as the Men in Blue also missed out on winning the 2022 T20 World Cup.
In a video on his YouTube channel, Latif explained why India might have underperformed in the past few ICC events. He opined:
“Virat Kohli had a direction and he wanted to win, but he was sacked. The team couldn't perform due to internal issues. They couldn't perform in ICC tournaments because, maybe, the captain didn't get the desired players. Or maybe he got, but they weren't used."
India should have brought back Shikhar Dhawan: Rashid Latif
Rashid Latif isn't really worried about India's injuries in the middle order with Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul yet to return. However, he believes they should have strengthened their top three by bringing back the experienced Shikhar Dhawan in the scheme of things for the Asia Cup and the World Cup.
On this, he stated:
"Their team is still pretty good, they will get a no.4. The problem begins when the top-3 gets dismissed quickly. If the top-3 plays out the 25-30 overs, they will win easily. Their issue is the top-3 isn't performing how it used to. They could've brought back Shikhar Dhawan, you had made him captain less than a year ago during a tour. You had players, you threw them here and there."
The Men in Blue are sweating on Rahul and Iyer's fitness, delaying the Asia Cup squad announcement.
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