Why India were out of Cricket World Cup 2007?

There are only two reasons behind India’s recent struggles: Greg Chappell and Rahul Dravid. They’ve found ways to explain away the lack of performance, but these "reasons" wouldn’t even be mentioned if the team were winning. Complaints about “senior players’ attitudes” didn’t just appear overnight; if issues existed, they certainly weren’t new.

In the last World Cup, Sachin opened the innings while Ganguly sacrificed his position for the good of the team, leading to a remarkable performance from Sachin that carried India to the semifinals. Simply calling Sachin a “key player” isn’t enough; if he is indeed crucial, he should be allowed to play in his most comfortable role.

In some ways, India's convincing win over the West Indies in the practice match might have been misleading, creating a false sense of confidence, while teams like South Africa and New Zealand, after their tough encounters with Ireland and Bangladesh, grew more cautious and adjusted their games accordingly.

A better lineup for India could have been Sachin, Ganguly, Dravid, Yuvraj, Sehwag, Dhoni, Karthik, Zaheer, Agarkar, Kumble, and Munaf. This combination, with the right batting order, might have given us a real shot at reaching the semifinals. It seems that Sehwag remains in the squad mainly to bolster Dravid's confidence, as Dravid has backed him despite repeated failures.

The continued inclusion of Sehwag, even with his recent poor form, is perplexing. If Dravid justifies his selection with Sehwag’s past Test hundreds and a triple century, why wasn’t Ganguly—one of the highest century-makers in world cricket—given the same consideration?

Dravid is undoubtedly a talented player, but it appears that he’s gotten involved in questionable team politics to secure his role as captain. What goes up will come down, and I just hope that, in the process, his batting doesn’t suffer.