With memorable victories in Test cricket in Australia and England, 2021 was a memorable year for Indian cricket. However, there was one major setback as the Men in Blue were knocked out of the 2021 Men's T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the group stage.
Coming into the tournament, Virat Kohli had announced that the global event will be his last assignment leading the Indian T20I side as India attempted at ending their ICC trophy drought.
However, the tournament ended up being a major blow for Kohli's men as they were knocked out in the group stage. For the first time since the 2012 T20 World Cup, India had failed to reach the knockout stages of an ICC event.
It was India's start to the tournament which set them back in the competition as arch-rivals Pakistan thrashed them by 10-wickets in both teams' opening clash of the tournament at the Dubai International Stadium.
This was the first time in either a 50-over or 20-over World Cup match that Pakistan defeated India. The game saw Babar Azam's side end a 12-match losing run against India in World Cups.
Former Pakistan cricket Mohammad Hafeez who retired from international cricket following the 2021 T20 World Cup has made a bold claim saying India's body language was not the same following the defeat to Pakistan.
Talking to Sports Tak, Hafeez said, “Both teams have pressure. I've played many India-Pakistan games, and when you lose the first match, it always has an impact.
"When we won the first match, you could see that India's body language wasn't the same anymore. Because the amount of pressure a player bears is huge, and if you fail to win, it gets very difficult.”
The ex-Pakistan all-rounder also claimed that India is over-dependent on Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to score runs in big matches and other players cannot handle the pressure of an Indo-Pak game.
"In India, Virat and Rohit Sharma are two players who can touch par runs when they play. I'm not trying to say that others are not good. But if these two players don't play well in an India-Pakistan game, the others cannot handle that pressure,” said Hafeez.
"I believe it will always be a good game. Virat and Rohit are very good batsman, but others cannot handle the pressure of India-Pakistan game," he added.
India is Pakistan will once again play their opening fixture of the tournament against each other in the 2022 T20 World Cup. The match will take place on 23rd October at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
https://www.timesnownews.com/sports...d-hafeez-makes-big-t20-world-cup-claim/852056
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