India’s lack of planning cost them the 2019 Cricket World Cup, states Irfan Pathan

Any Indian fan would tell that not having a proper No.4 for the ICC 2019 World Cup cost them the chance to win the mega event. Prior to the tournament, Ambati Rayudu had almost sealed his place in the middle-order alongside Virat Kohli. However, just weeks ahead of the tournament, MSK Prasad came out and announced that it would be Vijay Shankar, who would travel to England ahead of Rayudu. 

Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan opined that lack of planning arguably cost the team from taking a shot against England in the final of the event. Despite the Tamil Nadu all-rounder’s abilities, his body could not take the pressure, with injury ruling him out of the event. In his absence, the management tried out Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul at the position before they were knocked out by New Zealand. 

“If you look at the recent 2019 tournament, it was bad planning, I think the team can do better planning. Look, we have resources, we have players, we have fitness, we have everything to be a world champion. The only thing lacking is that we did not have a No.4 batsman just before the World Cup as well,” Pathan said on the Cricket Connected Show on Star Sports.

Additionally, the left-handed all-rounder also raised a point over the team struggling to field a proper eleven in every World cup game. Talking about the loss, Pathan reckons that Kohli and co should better plan for a tournament the next time around. 

“We were struggling with having a proper eleven. I think we need to make sure that we have better planning going into the ICC trophies, going into the World Cup. If we have better planning, we have all the resources to be a champion,” Pathan added.