Team India’s shocking series defeats against New Zealand and Australia has been one of the most talked about topics recently, with many cricket pundits giving their opinions. Before losing to Australia, India suffered a 0-3 series defeat against New Zealand at home. Later, they were thrashed by Australia in the five-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which got concluded recently.
India failed to regain the BGT title for the first time in 10 years, losing the series 1-3. Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar, sharing his views, has called India’s failure a generational slump. During India’s defeats, the highlight was the poor form of Indian veterans Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, who both failed to live up to the expectations, registering incredibly low scores.
"India are a sought-after cricket team that the world wants to eagerly host. They play a lot of matches in SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand, Australia) countries, so it is fair to be judged to the highest standards. This ‘generational slump’ is inevitable for all teams. It’s what we know as the transition phase and among the best teams in the world, I believe it affects India the most," Manjrekar wrote in his column for Hindustan Times.
"The one foremost reason behind this is the icon culture we have in India and the hero worship of certain players. Be it 2011/12 or now, it's the same scenario that gets played out -- iconic players featuring prominently doing the opposite of what they did their entire careers, thereby dragging the team down with their diminished performances," he added.
Manjrekar highlighted team’s slump during 2011-12 tours of England and Australia, where India registered series defeats under the leadership of MS Dhoni. That time stalwarts like VVS Laxman and Sachin Tendulkar had faced dip in their forms.
"When India lost 0-8 to England and Australia, Tendulkar averaged 35, Sehwag 19.91 and Laxman 21.06. Only Dravid stood out and got runs in England, but in Australia he too was given a harsh reality check," Manjrekar said.