Lost 8 major semi-finals and finals in 10 years

This was the fifth time since winning the Champions Trophy in 2013 that the Indian team had lost in the semi-finals or final of an ICC event. After that this happened three more times. In the last 10 years, this has happened 8 times in 9 different ICC tournaments when the Indian team was eliminated after losing a match in the knockout round.

Why mention this picture now? Because once again such a heart-pounding contest is before us. This is also the semi-final of the World Cup. Our team will again face the same New Zealand on 15th November in Mumbai. The question is arising whether the Indian team will once again become a victim of fear of failure in the knockout match. Fear of failure means fear of failure before the competition.

To understand India's fear of failure in big matches, we have analyzed the 48-year journey of Team India in ICC tournaments. We have divided it into 4 phases

• 1975 to 1983: India did not reach the knockouts in the 1975 and 1979 World Cups. Reached the knockouts for the first time in 1983 and became champion
• 1984 to 2006: India participated in 11 ICC tournaments. In 5 of these we lost in the semi-finals or finals. 1 The final was not completed due to rain, in which India emerged joint winners. There were 5 tournaments in which India did not reach the knockout round. From the 1983 World Cup till the 2007 ODI World Cup, India could not win a single ICC tournament.
• 2007 to 2013: India participated in 7 ICC tournaments from 2007 T20 World Cup to 2013 Champions Trophy. In this, Team India reached 3 knockout rounds and won the title in all three.
• 2014 to 2023: Before the ongoing World Cup, India has reached the knockouts of 8 out of 9 ICC tournaments and has not been able to win a single title.

No one can compete with India in league matches
In the last 10 years, the Indian team has been performing brilliantly in the league matches of ICC tournaments, but loses by a huge margin in the semi-finals or finals. Excluding the semi-final of the 2019 World Cup against New Zealand, in the remaining 7 matches, the Indian team has lost by at least 6 wickets if batting first and by at least 95 runs if batting later.

Team India is the most successful team in terms of winning matches in all the ICC tournaments that have taken place since the 2013 Champions Trophy. India have won 38 out of 44 league matches in different ICC tournaments since then. That means India has won 86% of the league matches. At the same time, the Indian team was eliminated in the knockout round in 8 out of 9 tournaments during this period. That means, on 89% of the occasions, India got the exit ticket in the knockout round only.

India's success in league matches clearly shows that if the team has not been able to win any major title in the last 10 years, then the cricketing region is not behind it. Experts also say that there is no major flaw in BCCI's planning nor is there any flaw in the team combination. Then what is the reason for the defeat in the knockout?

Cricket experts and sports psychologists attribute this to fear of failure.

What is Fear of Failure?
Fear of failure is a state in which people do not take any decision in which there is a possibility of defeat. They neither try new things nor want to take risks. There are four main reasons behind this

Fear of losing: You want to win at any cost, but there is a fear in your mind that you cannot win.
What will people say: Before the match, there is a fear of what people will say in case of defeat. How will the society and country take this result?
Fear of embarrassment: Fear of being embarrassed in front of others in case of failure.
Fear of not living up to expectations: You know that people's expectations from you are skyrocketing, but you are afraid that you will not be able to fulfill people's expectations.

According to sports psychologist Karanbir Singh and mental coach Prakash Rao

• There is bound to be pressure in a knockout match of such a big tournament. If players take the match as a challenge then the possibility of positive results is more and if they take it as a threat then it has a negative impact on the game.
• When a player thinks what the fans will say, what the coach will think, what will happen if he loses… such thoughts add pressure. Apart from this, there are many external factors also.
• Due to these, the neural pathways developed by the players get blocked. Muscle memory begins to fade short term and the athlete blacks out. When blacked out, he is unable to take decisions as per the situation. The player also faces difficulty in getting routine motion.
• That's why players practice so much so that in such situations, their muscle memory remains and they can come out of this situation.
• Due to pressure in big matches, the focus is more on the result rather than the process. Due to which the brain cannot decide what to do now. This slows down the player's movement. This has a negative impact on the outcome of the match. Choking can happen to anyone at any time. No matter how experienced the player is.
• Former Indian captain MS Dhoni has also said many times that in any match, his focus is more on action than the result. That means they focus on what they can do and not what the result will be.
• Malcolm Gladwell wrote in his study 'The Art of Failure' that choking occurs due to fear of failure. Panic and choking are complete opposites. Thinking too little leads to panic, while thinking too much leads to choking. In choking, the player's instinct disappears.

How much will the fear of defeat dominate India in the semi-finals?
According to sports psychologist Karanbir Singh, Team India is currently in the right mindset and this time it is in a very good position to overcome the fear of failure. This can be seen on 3 scales

• Performance and Team Behavior: Team India has played 9 league matches so far. Has registered convincing victories in more or less all the matches. In 9 matches, 6 different players have become Player of the Match. This shows that all the players are contributing to the team's victory.
• Mental Status: Team India is very strong psychologically. Has defeated New Zealand in the league stage. Before this World Cup, we were losing to New Zealand in the World Cup for 20 years. This time India changed history. At the same time, by achieving 8th consecutive victory in the World Cup against Pakistan, it has maintained the history that has been going on for 31 years. Meaning, this Indian team has enough substance to maintain the positive history and change the negative history. The Indian team has the ability to overturn the track record of the last 10 years. Team India did well in every area in the high pressure match. Be it setting the target by batting first or chasing the target by batting later, the Indian team has been successful in overcoming both the challenges. It is clear that the team has the ability to absorb pressure.
• Leadership: Rohit Sharma has won 2 Asia Cups. Under his leadership, Mumbai Indians have become IPL champions 5 times. He is not a captain for whom winning a trophy would be a new thing.