Team India need to look ahead rather than wallow in despair

India head coach Rahul Dravid

The T20 World Cup is done and dusted for India, and as the Men in Blue head home after completing the formality by defeating Namibia in the last league match, leaving the stage to Pakistan, England, Australia and New Zealand to decide the champions, the question in the minds of experts as well fans is: Was it mere fatigue the reason or there were other issues like poor planning and team selection or for that matter losing the toss in the first two vital games that led to India failing to make the semi-finals?

There is, however, an urgent need to look forward rather than wallow in despair as India have a three-game T20I series followed by two Test matches lined up against New Zealand from November 17. Therefore, there is no option but to look at the immediate future under a new T20 captain and a new head coach in Rahul Dravid.

Lessons to be learnt

There is little doubt that there are lessons to be learnt from the past while planning for the future. The foremost issue is: Are the Indians playing too much cricket and that too in bio-bubble environment, leading to fatigue and mental health issues?

The outgoing captain Virat Kohli has had a ready answer for these issues: "At the end of the day, we're all professionals and should know how to handle fatigue and mental health issues." But there is no denying that it has had an effect on the performance of the players individually as well as a team in the current World Cup.

That's why modern cricket experts have coined the word "workload management". It boils down to not only having a different captain for a different format, but also to different sets of players for Test matches and white-ball cricket. England have been managing this issue very well even at the cost of weakening their Test team. India are lucky they have a much larger pool of players and the selectors need to balance the workload of the players to avoid burnout and fatigue.

Players need a break

Outgoing bowling coach Bharat Arun aptly summed it up by saying: "The players do need sufficient breaks because I think even the mental health is going to be very, very important going forward. And this is going to be the norm for us at least for a year or two. With the volume of cricket that our country's playing and staying in the bubble, I can guarantee it's not very easy."

As we have seen, the BCCI is not keen on cutting down the amount of cricket, so to circumvent it, the best route is to ensure that the players are not only used judiciously, but also the right upcoming talent is given an opportunity. Half-fit players also do not serve the purpose.

Therefore, the selectors and the think-tank need to be on the same page. It needs to be seen how things will pan out under the new team management and the results will be there for all to see in the next few weeks.

Also Read: Sandeep Patil slams Team India's approach at T20 WC: That's ridiculous