'Unfortunately, that was never the best playing 11...' - Gautam Gambhir lashes out at Indian team management over last two World Cup failures

It’s almost been a decade since when Indian team lifted the title in any major international event, it was the year 2013 when the Indian team won the last international tournament in the form of the Champions Trophy. MS Dhoni-led men in blue outplayed England in the final of the tournament.

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Since then, the Indians had gone close to the last stages of international tournaments like the 20-20 World Cup 2014 final, the ODI World Cup 2015 semi-final, the Champions Trophy 2017 final, the ODI World Cup 2019 semi-final, and most recently the semi-final of the 20-20 World Cup 2022.

Meanwhile, the former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir has gone a bit harsh and lashed out at the Indian team management for the workload management of the players while figuring out the best playing XI for the marquee tournament of this stature.

If the franchisee has to suffer, they have to suffer. Indian cricket is the main stakeholder - Gautam Gambhir

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"If they want to take a break, people who play more than three formats, can definitely take a break from T20 cricket, but surely not from the ODI format. If the franchisee has to suffer, they have to suffer. Indian cricket is the main stakeholder, not the Indian T20 League. Indian T20 League is just a by-product. So, if India goes out and wins the World Cup, that is the bigger ovation, that is the bigger ring. For example, if an important player does miss the IPL games so be it because Indian T20 League happens every year and the World Cup happens only once in four years. So, for me I think winning the World Cup is far more important than winning the IPL," said the two-time World Cup winner batter.

Later on, the 41-year-old also stressed the fact that the ODI template should always be the priority while picking up the squad for an ODI World Cup.

“First, you need to identify the players who have that fearless approach, and probably in a format like 50 overs you need to have a mixture of every kind of player. There are players who can anchor their innings. Change in the role has also made a huge difference. During that time, we had only one new ball, now we've got two new balls with five fielders inside. So, the role of a part-timer has gone out of the window. The reverse swings, you don't see enough reverse swings anymore, and you don't see enough of the chase for the finger spinners as well,” he added later.