Ex-Pakistan cricketer says 'internal issues' to blame for India's ICC title drought

The team have displayed top form across formats in the last few years. They have regularly made finals and semi-finals of ICC tournaments but failed at the last moment. This has made them the target of strong criticism from experts and fans alike. While many have tried to find out what’s been weighing the Men-in-Blue down, former Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter Rashid Latif thinks the rub lies in the team’s “internal issues.” Speaking on his YouTube channel he said, “Virat Kohli had a direction and he wanted to win, but he was sacked. The team couldn’t perform due to internal issues. They couldn’t perform in ICC tournaments because, maybe, the captain didn’t get the desired players. Or maybe he got, but they weren’t used. Now, there are two big events — Asia Cup in Sri Lanka and the World Cup at home. Their team is still pretty good, they will get a No 4,” Latif said. Latif argues that getting the top three sorted is the problem for Team India. “The problem begins when the top-3 get dismissed quickly. If the top-3 plays out the 25-30 overs, they will win easily. Their issue is the top-3 isn’t performing how it used to. They could’ve brought back Shikhar Dhawan, you had made him captain less than a year ago during a tour. You had players, you threw them here and there.” Meanwhile, coming out of an ODI series win over West Indies, India will return to the format to take Pakistan on 2 September in the Asia Cup. India are in Group A with Pakistan and Nepal and will have all of their matches in Sri Lanka, the co-hosts. Earlier the continental tournament was to be held in Pakistan entirely. But India’s refusal to send the team to Pakistan, citing security reasons, made the Asian Cricket Council shift all of their matches to Sri Lanka. The Men in Blue then face arch-rivals Pakistan in the ICC World Cup at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium on 14 October.