Cricketing legend India crashed out of the Twenty20 World Cup after New Zealand beat Afghanistan to book a second semi-final berth from Group 2 on Sunday.
Virat Kohli’s team came in as the most favorites in the tournament, but after a massive loss to rivals Pakistan, their future depended on other teams, first to make the last four, and then the Kiwis.
India beat Afghanistan and Scotland but it was too late and they are now out of the tournament ahead of their final match against Namibia on Monday.
batting first
The famous Indian batting line-up including Kohli and Rohit Sharma came into the opening attack against the quality bowling of Pakistan and then the fast bowling of New Zealand.
Invited to bat in both matches, India suffered a top-order failure and lost – by 10 wickets and eight wickets respectively – which derailed their campaign initially.
By the time Rohit smashed a 47-ball 74 in India’s 210-2 against Afghanistan, he was already at the net run-rate and at the mercy of other teams.
India’s bowling coach Bharat Arun said, “The toss gives a very unfair advantage.
“And that’s why – it’s a big change between batting in the first innings and batting in the second innings. It shouldn’t happen in a much shorter format like this.”
dew process
– The Indian bowlers got just two wickets in the first two matches, with Jasprit Bumrah striking twice, which was an easy chase for the Kiwis.
Dew played a big role in all of the evening’s matches in Dubai, but his wicketkeeping against Pakistan hurt the confidence of a team that boasts of many bowling talents, including pacer Mohammed Shami.
The same set of bowlers, as well as returning spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, proved effective with a big total to play in Abu Dhabi as they put Afghanistan down 144-7.
And Arun said that dew was a factor, but “there is no excuse. We should have done better. We should have batted better. And in the first match also we had a chance to defend our total. But we were equal. Were down a bit.”
IPL Fatigue
India’s World Cup players regrouped as a national team in the United Arab Emirates, just two days after the Indian Premier League ended on 15 October in Dubai.
A tournament that was supposed to provide insight and fine tunes ahead of the T20 showpiece event, seems to have come to the fore of bubble fatigue.
After losing to New Zealand, Bumrah said, “Sometimes you need a break”.
Coach Arun said that a short break between the IPL and the World Cup would have been good for the fast bowlers.
“Certainly being on the road for six months is a huge question … and I think it takes a huge toll,” he said.
After India’s crushing defeat, there was a discussion on social media with the #banIPL hashtag.
Too Many Cooks?
– India brought in former captain MS Dhoni to pitch with his experience as a mentor for the marquee event.
Kohli welcomed the move and was welcomed by fans after Dhoni led Chennai Super Kings to their fourth IPL title in Dubai.
Dhoni led India to the T20 World Cup title in the inaugural 2007 edition and then to the 50-over award in 2011.
But former India batsman Gautam Gambhir, who was crucial to India’s ODI World Cup win, wanted clarification on Dhoni’s role, sitting alongside the head coach (Ravi Shastri), assistant coach and bowling coach.
Kohli farewell
Kohli had announced that the T20 World Cup would be his last as captain in the shortest format and many spoke of India getting the title as a farewell gift for the prolific batsman.
He took over the leadership responsibility across formats from Dhoni in 2017 and has since taken India to new heights in Test and white-ball cricket, but has failed to lead the team to a world title.
Gambhir said the timing of the announcement could make the team ‘turbulent and emotional’.
Whether it actually happened or not, no one can tell but ‘King Kohli’ will surely leave the T20 captaincy stage without any crown.
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