India’s recent series loss to New Zealand has served as a wake-up call for the team, according to 1983 World Cup winner Sandeep Patil. Patil urged the team to leave the past behind and focus on the upcoming Australia tour, where they will face unique challenges.
Patil emphasized the importance of learning from mistakes and adapting to the conditions in Australia, where the quality of the opposition and the nature of the pitches present significant hurdles. He believes that India’s talented and resilient squad has the potential to bounce back from setbacks and achieve success in challenging conditions.
“They have to play against Australia in Australia, they will have to forget what happened there last time. They will also have to forget what happened in this series (against New Zealand) and look forward,” Patil said.
Patil drew parallels to India’s historic World Cup victory in 1983, where the team overcame setbacks and played with a positive mindset. He believes that the current team can emulate that spirit and deliver a strong performance in Australia.
“We lost all practice games before winning the World Cup, so they should remember… you have to think positive and play positively only then you will get a positive result,” he said.
Patil acknowledged that the series loss to New Zealand was a wake-up call, but expressed confidence in India’s ability to recover strongly. He pointed to the team’s consistent pattern of resurgence after setbacks.
“After every defeat, you have always seen the Indian team bouncing back. Not because I am an Indian and we all are Indians, but they will bounce back because they are a very good side,” he stated.
Regarding the Perth pitch, Patil noted its evolution from its previous characteristics, whilst highlighting the generally favourable batting conditions in Australian grounds. He attributed the series loss against New Zealand to underwhelming batting performances rather than outright failure.
“We lost the series (against New Zealand) because the batting didn’t do well. I will not use the word ‘failed’ because it is negative. We just did not do well in the batting department.”
Patil expressed confidence that the team would have analyzed their performance and made necessary adjustments. He believes that India has the potential to overcome recent setbacks and achieve success in Australia.
