Moment MS Dhoni gave up captaincy, things went south: Akhtar on India's ICC title drought since 2013

Rawalpindi Express Shoaib Akhtar shared his take on India's 10-year-long ICC title drought since 2013. It is to be noted that Team India last won a mega event during the 2013 Champions Trophy, when MS Dhoni-led, inexperienced Indianline-up beat England in a rain-marred final, by five runs (DLS method), to lift the coveted title in England and Wales.

Since then, India have reached the final of mega events on four occasions (in T20 World Cup 2014, the 2017 Champions Trophy, the two WTC finals) and semi-finals on as many instances (during the 2015 and 2019 ODI World Cup, 2016 and 2022 T20 World Cup). However, they could not add to their trophy cabinet.

Akhar, in an interview with RevSportz, opined on India's empty trophy cabinet since 2013 and feels things have gone south for India ever since Dhoni stepped down as the captain. Under the legendary skipper, India won the 2007 T20 World Cup, 2011 ODI World Cup and 2013 Champions Trophy. In addition, he led India to the No. 1 spot in the ICC Test Rankings.

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'The moment Dhoni gave up captaincy, things went south for India'

Akhtar said, "First of all, it is the pressure that you all put on the team. It is almost impossible to play with such pressure. Like I told you, it is as if you can’t lose. If you, God forbid, lose, all hell will break loose."

He further opined, "The second and more important point is you had someone who could soak in all the pressure, and protect his teammates. He would not let his teammates feel the pressure, and that was the best thing about MS Dhoni. You won the 2007 World T20 under him, the 2011 World Cup and then the 2013 Champions Trophy. The moment Dhoni gave up the captaincy, things went south for India."

On the current Indian captain Rohit Sharma, who has already led India in two ICC eventsbut not managed any success, the former Pakistani pacer stated, "When I see Rohit, I keep asking this question of myself if he should have accepted captaincy in the first place? I think Rohit feels panic on occasion and lets the pressure get to him. The pressure of captaincy cripples you, and it happened with Virat Kohli also. That’s why you don’t win a major tournament."

Akhtar added, "Make no mistake, Rohit does have the team to win the World Cup. As a batter, he is perhaps more talented than Virat Kohli also. He is a classical batsman and the kind of shots he plays, it is just mind-blowing. But with captaincy, is he being able to do that? Let him prove me wrong and all of us wrong, for that’s what all of India will want him to do in this World Cup."

Under Dhoni, India became temperamentally strong during crunch situations, concentrated more on fielding and running between wickets,and saw a smooth transition with the baton being passed to Virat Kohli, who was later replaced by Rohit as full-time captain early in 2022. Now, Rohit will look to end India's title drought with a win in the upcoming home ODI World Cup, set to begin on October 05 in Ahmedabad.

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