Tom Moody reveals how India missed out on an opportunity to win World Cup 2019

Tom Moody has revealed how India had sabotaged their hopes of winning the 2019 World Cup that was held in England & Wales. India were considered as one of the pre-tournament favorites heading into the quadrennial event. In fact, Virat & Co. had an outstanding campaign where they had topped the table by winning seven of their nine league games. However, 45 minutes of bad cricket against New Zealand in the semi-final brought curtains down on their otherwise successful tournament.

'One of the huge challenges': Tom Moody

“One of the huge challenges India has to face, whether they like it or not, is the expectation on their talent. There is no question that India has got more talent by a long stretch than any country. But sometimes that can be a burden".

“Not just the expectation but when you have got too many players to choose from, it can cloud your thinking and your philosophy on how you feel you need to play to win a particular tournament,” Moody said when asked to speak about the issue that India has been facing in ICC tournaments", said Tom Moody during his recent interaction with the 'Voice of Indian Cricket', Harsha Bhogle on Cricbuzz live.

“The best example was the campaign in England (World Cup 2019). When it seemed that India, twelve months out, were ready to play that tournament. But in the next twelve months in the actual lead up to the tournament, did their very best to sabotage their hopes of winning the tournament", the 1999 World Cup winner added.

“By changing batting orders, by changing personnel within the batting order, creating uncertainty among the whole playing group. When you come into major tournaments that’s when you crystalise people’s thinking and thoughts and not be influenced by the white noise. What the media might be talking about because you know exactly what path you are on. What exactly you need to be doing. You just need to remain consistent with that because players also sense the uncertainty when those things are happening,” the former Sunrisers Hyderabad coach further added.

When Dhoni-Jadeja's rescue act went in vain

The Indian bowlers had done a tremendous job in restricting New Zealand to a manageable total of 239. However, their run chase got off to a disastrous start when they were reduced to 5/3 and then 24/4. When the Men In Blue were in a hopeless position at 92/6, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (50) and Ravindra Jadeja (77) carried out the rescue act. The duo added 116 runs for the seventh-wicket stand and at one point, it seemed as if a fourth World Cup final appearance was on the cards. 

However, with the asking rate climbing up, both batsmen had to take risks and Jadeja perished by playing a rash stroke off Trent Boult as he was caught by skipper Kane Williamson at mid-off. The onus was on MS Dhoni to finish things off in style and he kept the fans and viewers on their feet by slashing Lockie Ferguson to a six to the on-side. However, a sharp throw from Martin Guptill on the following delivery saw Dhoni short of his crease when he was running back for a risky second run in order to take the strike. 

The Indian resistance was cut short post his dismissal and it meant that they had to wait for another four years to win their third 50-overs World Cup trophy. The two-time world champions were bundled out for 221 as the Black Caps won the contest by 18 runs to qualify for their second consecutive World Cup final.

READ: 'My Dream Is To Still Win World Cups', Rohit Sharma Recalls India's 2019 WC Campaign

(Image Courtesy: AP)