The administration of the Indian team made some decisions that made little to no sense. Yet, they continued to use the same bunch of players, humiliating India in front of the entire cricket community. They have made several questionable choices. Let us look at the wrong decisions taken by the Indian team management.
1. Yuzvendra Chahal
The leg-spinner was a crucial component of India's limited-overs lineup, and throughout the past four years, he was in the squad. The selectors contended that Rahul Chahar, who bowls faster, would be more effective on the UAE wickets than Chahal because Chahal bowls slowly in the air. They had to bite their tongues in response to the Haryana spinner's outstanding IPL 2021 performance, but they ignored him.
2. Varun Chakaravarthy
Before the competition, the KKR spinner was India's hidden weapon. To be honest, given how he played in the second half of the IPL 2021, those assertions appeared quite justified. Chakaravarthy had an injury at the end of the contest but continued to play, making it worse. His injury worries got disregarded by the selection committee, who kept him on the team because he would be healthy enough to play by tournament time. He participated in India's first two games against Pakistan and New Zealand. He appeared out of place in those matches. His bowling was not mysterious, as players from both teams took a particular liking to it and targeted him without hesitation.
3. Rahul Chahar
They gave Chahar much confidence by selecting Chahar over Chahal for the T20 World Cup squad. Even though he did not play much, he would have been content to share the dressing room with some of the best cricketers in the nation. He did not have enough opportunities to show off his talent, yet the selectors cut him from the squad for the following series.
4. Hardik Pandya
Although there had always been questions about Hardik Pandya's fitness, top selector Chetan Sharma was sure he would bowl the full four overs required. The idea of including an unfit or only partially fit Hardik in India's playing Eleven was not wise as per experts. Still, the selectors continued to help him, claiming he was in the right direction. Hardik participated in every game, but he lost each one. He did pick up bowling again, but it was far from his best.
5. Hanuma Vihari
In his final international match, Vihari teamed up with Ravichandran Ashwin at the Sydney Cricket Stadium to miraculously salvage a draw from the jaws of defeat. He battled an injury, put on a defensive clinic, and assisted India in preserving the series going into the fourth Test match. After recovering from his injuries, Vihari rejoined the team and toured England, although he did not play in any games. He is currently no longer a member of the squad at all. The selectors acted quickly to save their faces and selected him for India A team after his omission sparked a significant backlash on social media.
6. Sacking Selection Committee
Chetan Sharma, the top selector, and the whole senior national selection committee got fired by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The National Selectors role was advertised on Twitter by the Council. The verdict came a few days after Team India's disappointing performance in the T20 World Cup 2022 semifinal. The Men in Blue got eliminated from the competition after losing to England by a score of 10 wickets.
7. Virat Kohli – BCCI
There was no talk of Virat Kohli taking over as the ODI captain. He stated in his letter to the BCCI announcing his intention to step down as the T20 leader. This starkly contrasted with Sourav Ganguly's remarks, according to which Kohli's ODI leadership ended to maintain consistency across limited-over formats since Kohli had set on retiring as T20 captain.
8. Shastri Book Launch
After a COVID-19 breakout in the Indian camp, the fifth and final Test match against England got controversially canceled. Some of the senior Indian players refused to take the field in Manchester. The series got prematurely canceled because the former head coach Ravi Shastri and most of his support staff, including physio Nitin Patel, fielding coach R Sridhar, and bowling coach Bharat Arun, had tested positive for the feared virus. The Indian supporters and English media blamed Shastri's private book launch event for serving as a super spreader and breaking the bio-secure bubble after the match got postponed indefinitely.
9. Leaks Against Kohli
The year 2021 may also be known for the several leaks involving Indian Test captain Virat Kohli. There have been rumors that certain Indian players were unhappy with Kohli's approach and had complained about it to BCCI secretary Jay Shah after India lost the WTC final. The media had already begun to report on Kohli's plan to step down as T20I skipper.
10. IPL Vs. Test Cricket
The English media criticized Shastri's book launch event and the Indian players' dedication after the first Test against England got abruptly canceled. According to several accounts in English-language media, the Indian team's COVID-19 breakout had nothing to do with the game's cancellation. According to additional rumors, Indian players withdrew from the series to appease their IPL teams by arriving in the UAE sooner than planned.
