Virat Kohli who had announced his decision of leaving India’s T20I team’s captaincy post the 2021 world cup could not have dreamt of a more disastrous way to end his legacy. India, on two consecutive Sunday’s suffered heavy defeats in the hands of Pakistan and New Zealand. These results essentially confirm India’s virtual exit from the world cup. Technically, they still can make it to the semis but for that to happen, it will require defying every known cricketing logic.
Last Sunday, India played against Pakistan and was hammered with a 10 wicket loss. The entire team failed to perform. This Sunday, a few changes were brought into the team but that did not stop the team from experiencing a second disastrous loss in as many games. They could put up just 110 against a dominant Kiwi bowling performance and went on to lose the match by 8 wickets. Now, the team’s performance shall be analyzed and reasons for such dismal performance shall be figured out.
We attempt to look at 6 players whose performance directly affected India’s show and how their game was the reason why India today is in the position of being knocked out.
1. Total Failure of Rohit Sharma
The Hitman is one of India’s best batting hopes and a lot was riding on him in terms team’s overall performance. India reached the semi-finals of the 2019 ICC ODI world cup largely due to Sharma’s heroic 5 centuries. India was hoping for such a performance from him but he failed miserably. He got a duck in the game against Pakistan. Thereafter, he was demoted to 4 and scored 14 off 14. These performances led to India’s complete failure at the top of the order.
2. Misfiring Finishers
India had enormous hopes from its finishers. Hardik Pandya who did not bowl in this tournament was played as a specialist batsman because of his incredible to clear the ropes. Similarly, Rishabh Pant who had been selected for his ability to take the game away from the opposition at will too did not fire with all his cylinders. Both the batsman found it hard to time the ball and could not clear the ropes at will. Against the Kiwis, Pant could manage an abysmal 12 runs from 19 balls and Pandya scored 23 off 24. In the Pakistan game, Pant put up a decent performance of 39 from 30 balls and Pandya could get 11 off 8 balls.
3. No-show from India’s Famed Bowling Trio
India’s bowling was one of the best in the tournament. A line-up of Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Jasprit Bumbrah would send chills down the spines of the opposition team. however, the trio did not show up in this tournament. All three went wicketless in the first match. In the second game, Shami bowled a solitary over for 11 runs and Bhuvi was dropped. Jasprit Bumbrah had a good game but that was not enough to save the game.
4. No Magic from Ravindra Jadeja
When everything else fails, India depends on its talisman to pull the team out of any kind of problem. However, Jadeja too could not spell his magic in the tournament. In the two games, he could not control the flow of runs and was very expensive. He failed to pick wickets as well and with the bat, he could not contribute enough.
