Five things that went wrong for India at the T20 World Cup

[MenInG]

Dubai (AFP) – Cricketing giants India exited the Twenty20 World Cup after New Zealand beat Afghanistan to book the second semi-final berth from Group 2 on Sunday.

Virat Kohli's team came into the tournament as hot favourites but let their future depend on other teams after big losses to rivals Pakistan, who were the first team to make the final four, and then the Kiwis.

India thrashed Afghanistan and Scotland but it was all too late and now they find themselves out of the tournament even before their final game against Namibia on Monday.

AFP Sport takes a look at five things that didn't work in India's campaign.

Batting first

-- The famed Indian batting line-up including Kohli and Rohit Sharma came under early attack against quality Pakistan bowling and then the New Zealand quicks.

Invited to bat in both the matches, India suffered a top-order failure and slipped to losses -- by 10 wickets and eight wickets respectively -- that derailed their campaign at the start.

By the time Rohit hit form with his 47-ball 74 in India's 210-2 against Afghanistan, they were already at the mercy of net run-rate and other teams.

"The toss gives a very undue advantage," India's bowling coach Bharat Arun said.

"And that's the reason why -- it's a huge change between batting in the first innings and batting in the second innings. That shouldn't be the case in a very short format like this."

Dew process

-- The Indian bowlers got just two wickets in the first two matches with Jasprit Bumrah striking twice in what seemed an easy chase for the Kiwis.

Dew did play a big part in all the evening matches in Dubai but going wicketless against Pakistan hurt the confidence of a side boasting an array of bowling talent including pace ace Mohammed Shami.

The same set of bowlers, plus returning spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, proved effective in Abu Dhabi with a big total to play with as they kept down Afghanistan to 144-7.

And Arun said dew was a factor, but "there's no excuses. We should have done better. We should have batted better. And also the first match we had a chance to defend our total. But we looked a little below par."

IPL fatigue

-- India's World Cup players regrouped as a national side in the United Arab Emirates just two days after the Indian Premier League ended on October 15 in Dubai.

A tournament that was supposed to provide insight and good tune-up ahead of T20's showpiece event seems to have backfired as talk of bubble fatigue crept in.

Bumrah said "sometimes you need a break" after their loss to New Zealand.

Coach Arun said a short break between the IPL and the World Cup would have been good for the fast bowlers.

"Definitely being on the road for six months is a huge ask...And I think that takes a huge toll," he said.

Social media was also abuzz with #banIPL hashtags after India's crushing defeats.

Too many cooks?

-- India brought in former captain MS Dhoni as mentor for the marquee event to pitch in with his experience.

The move was welcomed by Kohli and the fans lapped it up after Dhoni led Chennai Super Kings to a fourth IPL title in Dubai.

Dhoni had also led India to the T20 World Cup title in the 2007 inaugural edition and then the 50-over prize in 2011.

But former India batsman Gautam Gambhir, who was key to India's ODI World Cup triumph, had wanted explanations on the role of Dhoni sitting alongside the head coach (Ravi Shastri), the assistant coach, and the 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 duties across formats from Dhoni in 2017 and has since taken India to new heights in Test and white-ball cricket but failed to get the team a world title.

Gambhir said the timing of the announcement could make the team "unsettled and emotional".

Whether it actually did or not, nobody can tell but 'King Kohli' will surely leave the T20 captaincy stage without a crown.

https://www.france24.com/en/live-ne...hat-went-wrong-for-india-at-the-t20-world-cup

 

[Devadwal]

Next time with better planning and Executions .

 

[Savak]

Arrogance and over confidence among the Indian players, ex, players, experts, media, fans and public. Deserved this slap

 

[Bewal Express]

PK turned up and stared them down
They panicked and dropped Rohit to 3
The Bowlers were innocuous and looked old
The batting was confused
PK and NZ won all their expected games

 

[Varun]

Our LoI mindset is still stuck in 2012-15.

We need to evolve.

 

[ExpressPacer]

Just an average to a below average team. No other way to put it. Any team that has to rely on Afghanistan beating NZ to qualify is an average to below average team for me.

 

[The Googly]

1. They got annihilated by Pakistan and New Zealand
2. They got annihilated by Pakistan and New Zealand
3. They got annihilated by Pakistan and New Zealand
4. They got annihilated by Pakistan and New Zealand
5. They exited the world cup at super 12 stage beating the 3 minnows and losing to the only 2 reasonable teams they met.

 

[RexRex]

They should have picked the players who were in form at the IPL.

 

[Major]

The bubble that they live in that they are a top team got exposed.

Indians see their team as the aussies of the 2000s, when infact they are no where near. Said this many times.

When it comes to competing with the world, they lack behind every time. Since the 2011 World Cup win, we have been hearing how the India team has changed, but except for one champions trophy win they have done nothing. In two world cups they lost in the semis, they lost a champions trophy final and even lost a world t20 final along with semis and now a group exit.

India is not a weak team, only problem is each time they have to deal with a better opposition. They dont come prepared.

 

[globalcitizen]

You will know the reason why in the SF. One of team will know in semi. It's going to be one sided in Dubai international stadium.

Win Toss and bowl is massive advantage.

India lost first 3 toss and could not bowl. If atleast 1 toss in first 2 games went their way, it would have been surely a win.

Having said all that, the other reasons which could have reduced margin of defeats are,

Not playing Ashwin from first game. India should have played ashwin and varun and jadeja always.
Bumrah should have been bowled out in power plays.
In first 2 games, they should have batted normally without keeping dew in mind and aim for a above par score. Instead trying to be aggressive dint help here. So strategy was lacking

 

[gazza619]

Chahar must be bowling really badly in the nets.

He was in my XI all the way.

 

[realitygaf]

Our LoI mindset is still stuck in 2012-15.

We need to evolve.

This is illogical. If this is true India would have lost not won so many bilateral series since 2016

 

[realitygaf]

I really want to see how india performs vs Namibia

 

[tired1]

You will know the reason why in the SF. One of team will know in semi. It's going to be one sided in Dubai international stadium.

Win Toss and bowl is massive advantage.

India lost first 3 toss and could not bowl. If atleast 1 toss in first 2 games went their way, it would have been surely a win.

Having said all that, the other reasons which could have reduced margin of defeats are,

Not playing Ashwin from first game. India should have played ashwin and varun and jadeja always.
Bumrah should have been bowled out in power plays.
In first 2 games, they should have batted normally without keeping dew in mind and aim for a above par score. Instead trying to be aggressive dint help here. So strategy was lacking

lost by 10 wickets and lost by 8 wickets ? yah it was toss, right.

 

[Ab Fan]

They are bunch of chokers who don't have the ability to handle pressure of big games in LOI cricket.

Come the test cricket, they play their best cricket.

 

[moghul]

Dubai (AFP) – Cricketing giants India exited the Twenty20 World Cup after New Zealand beat Afghanistan to book the second semi-final berth from Group 2 on Sunday.

Virat Kohli's team came into the tournament as hot favourites but let their future depend on other teams after big losses to rivals Pakistan, who were the first team to make the final four, and then the Kiwis.

India thrashed Afghanistan and Scotland but it was all too late and now they find themselves out of the tournament even before their final game against Namibia on Monday.

AFP Sport takes a look at five things that didn't work in India's campaign.

Batting first

-- The famed Indian batting line-up including Kohli and Rohit Sharma came under early attack against quality Pakistan bowling and then the New Zealand quicks.

Invited to bat in both the matches, India suffered a top-order failure and slipped to losses -- by 10 wickets and eight wickets respectively -- that derailed their campaign at the start.

By the time Rohit hit form with his 47-ball 74 in India's 210-2 against Afghanistan, they were already at the mercy of net run-rate and other teams.

"The toss gives a very undue advantage," India's bowling coach Bharat Arun said.

"And that's the reason why -- it's a huge change between batting in the first innings and batting in the second innings. That shouldn't be the case in a very short format like this."

Dew process

-- The Indian bowlers got just two wickets in the first two matches with Jasprit Bumrah striking twice in what seemed an easy chase for the Kiwis.

Dew did play a big part in all the evening matches in Dubai but going wicketless against Pakistan hurt the confidence of a side boasting an array of bowling talent including pace ace Mohammed Shami.

The same set of bowlers, plus returning spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, proved effective in Abu Dhabi with a big total to play with as they kept down Afghanistan to 144-7.

And Arun said dew was a factor, but "there's no excuses. We should have done better. We should have batted better. And also the first match we had a chance to defend our total. But we looked a little below par."

IPL fatigue

-- India's World Cup players regrouped as a national side in the United Arab Emirates just two days after the Indian Premier League ended on October 15 in Dubai.

A tournament that was supposed to provide insight and good tune-up ahead of T20's showpiece event seems to have backfired as talk of bubble fatigue crept in.

Bumrah said "sometimes you need a break" after their loss to New Zealand.

Coach Arun said a short break between the IPL and the World Cup would have been good for the fast bowlers.

"Definitely being on the road for six months is a huge ask...And I think that takes a huge toll," he said.

Social media was also abuzz with #banIPL hashtags after India's crushing defeats.

Too many cooks?

-- India brought in former captain MS Dhoni as mentor for the marquee event to pitch in with his experience.

The move was welcomed by Kohli and the fans lapped it up after Dhoni led Chennai Super Kings to a fourth IPL title in Dubai.

Dhoni had also led India to the T20 World Cup title in the 2007 inaugural edition and then the 50-over prize in 2011.

But former India batsman Gautam Gambhir, who was key to India's ODI World Cup triumph, had wanted explanations on the role of Dhoni sitting alongside the head coach (Ravi Shastri), the assistant coach, and the 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 duties across formats from Dhoni in 2017 and has since taken India to new heights in Test and white-ball cricket but failed to get the team a world title.

Gambhir said the timing of the announcement could make the team "unsettled and emotional".

Whether it actually did or not, nobody can tell but 'King Kohli' will surely leave the T20 captaincy stage without a crown.

https://www.france24.com/en/live-ne...hat-went-wrong-for-india-at-the-t20-world-cup

Don;t agree with their excuse of batting first and dew problem , other teams had the same issues to deal with .

Their biggest issue has been IPL fatigue, they have been playing non-stop cricket and for being greedy they never adjusted their IPL schedule in view of WC.

I seriously think their players main motivation was to perform in IPL and they would care less about WC , for obvious reason .

Also they had underestimate the quality of players and intensity they would face in WC. I think Hayden was right in saying its different to face ( relatively ) lower quality bowlers in IPL than in the WC. Yes, there are top notch bowlers playing in IPL but they are not playing for one team, they are diluted, spread over so many teams . When Indians faced Afrid and Rauf and Southy and Boults as a pair in a pressure situation they simply melted away.

Indians are living in their IPL bubble and they think that's the ultimate standard of T20 cricket, rest of the world has proven that's not the case.

Too many cooks and Kohli farewell also contributed, to some extend , to their failed campaign.

I don't expect they will do any better next year , they will not adjust anything in their IPL schedule to enhance their chances in the WC. With more teams in IPL now, quality of cricket will be diluted further, season will be longer and their motivation to perform better on world stage will go down further.

 

[cric_4life]

Not playing Ashwin was the only reason.
Captaincy issue was another major factor.
Indian team looked very tired and worn out.
Internal politics also played a part.

 

[Shafi]

Overconfidence and took Pakistan team lightly.

 

[Syed1]

They started to believe their own hype...


The media and all pundits alway hype up India on the behest of BCCI but other than Kohli and Bumrah they don't have many players who would make it to this Pakistan XI.

Heck after Kohli they have the likes of Surya Kumar Yadav coming in. I saw him for the first time in this tournament and he seemed like the kind of batsman who will play a couple of matches in the PSL and then get benched for the rest of the season. The next is Pant. In gully cricket we call such kind of batsmen as laparu types. Who don't have much of a technique but just blindly swing. Chal gaya tu chand tak warna shaam tak.

Not sure what India was hoping to achieve by playing a dud batting lineup.

 

[PakLFC]

Arrogance thinking we just have to turn up to win. That other sides are just there too make up the numbers. Thinking average players like Varun will make opposition players sweat. Just an overrated and overhyped team as we all witnessed.

 

[Itachi]

I can think of only one reason.

Opponent played better than us.

Simple as that.

 

[Ahmad-GERMANFC]

I can think of only one reason.

Opponent played better than us.

Simple as that.

Are you saying that the Indian players played to their potential and just weren’t good enough in front of the opponents? I don’t think so.

Anyways the biggest weakness for India here is the same weakness they had in WC 2015 semi, CT 2017 final and WC 2019 semi. As soon as their top 3 gets out; their batting is toothless. I don’t know the last time in a consequential game where their top 3 failed but they still ended up posting a decent score.

 

[Kaptan]

Kohli
Kohli
Kohli
Kohli
Sastri

 

[Pollack]

1) Team selection
2) Kohli captain
3) toss
4) batting
5) bowling

 

[dani2k]

India needs to stop treating T20s as a concised version of ODIs and go with a different, attack as your first line of defence approach for the shortest version.

Identify a separate set of specialists for each version and stick to them.

This approach might not give immediate results, like a cup in the next version in Australia, but will ultimately prove successful given that the shortest version is all about flat pitches and power hitting.

 

[Dingolfy]

Are you saying that the Indian players played to their potential and just weren’t good enough in front of the opponents? I don’t think so.

Anyways the biggest weakness for India here is the same weakness they had in WC 2015 semi, CT 2017 final and WC 2019 semi. As soon as their top 3 gets out; their batting is toothless. I don’t know the last time in a consequential game where their top 3 failed but they still ended up posting a decent score.

Isn’t that true that most teams barring England?

 

[Dingolfy]

Don;t agree with their excuse of batting first and dew problem , other teams had the same issues to deal with .

Their biggest issue has been IPL fatigue, they have been playing non-stop cricket and for being greedy they never adjusted their IPL schedule in view of WC.

I seriously think their players main motivation was to perform in IPL and they would care less about WC , for obvious reason .

Also they had underestimate the quality of players and intensity they would face in WC. I think Hayden was right in saying its different to face ( relatively ) lower quality bowlers in IPL than in the WC. Yes, there are top notch bowlers playing in IPL but they are not playing for one team, they are diluted, spread over so many teams . When Indians faced Afrid and Rauf and Southy and Boults as a pair in a pressure situation they simply melted away.

Indians are living in their IPL bubble and they think that's the ultimate standard of T20 cricket, rest of the world has proven that's not the case.

Too many cooks and Kohli farewell also contributed, to some extend , to their failed campaign.

I don't expect they will do any better next year , they will not adjust anything in their IPL schedule to enhance their chances in the WC. With more teams in IPL now, quality of cricket will be diluted further, season will be longer and their motivation to perform better on world stage will go down further.

India had same IPL schedule when they came in Final in 2014 and semifinal in 2016 and lost to eventual Champions.
They will do fine next time.

 

[globalcitizen]

The bubble that they live in that they are a top team got exposed.

Indians see their team as the aussies of the 2000s, when infact they are no where near. Said this many times.

When it comes to competing with the world, they lack behind every time. Since the 2011 World Cup win, we have been hearing how the India team has changed, but except for one champions trophy win they have done nothing. In two world cups they lost in the semis, they lost a champions trophy final and even lost a world t20 final along with semis and now a group exit.

India is not a weak team, only problem is each time they have to deal with a better opposition. They dont come prepared.

And what has pakistan done in last 10 years? Other than win a ct final which no one cares.

T20 is a hit and miss , and no team can be sure until they win it all.
So then let's all agree west indies are greatest team this decade because they won 2 world cups and Australia, India , Pakistan have done nothing this decade..

 

[Ahmed216]

1. India getting seriously hammered by Pak the effects of which were seen in game against NZ.
2. Incompetent middle order again. Batsmen playing either on reputation or IPL form. Get 2 early wickets and and its almost game over.
3. Poor selection in spin department. Jadeja and ashwin were replaced by wrist spinners post CT final but we saw them both playing together again in this world cup so no progress made on that front.
4. Shami is a poor T20 bowler the world knows it but not Mr. Kohli. Bhuvi's terribly out of form. Poor captaincy.
5. Poor scheduling from BCCI. Two tough games at the start didnt allow India the breathing space. Might have been better if one of those 2 games were against Nam or Scotland

 

[ExpressPacer]

I can think of only one reason.

Opponent played better than us.

Simple as that.

One person on here who is man enough to admit that.

The recognition of your flaws is the first (and most important) step of fixing your flaws.

Some Indian fans are making excuses but you have accepted that India is a mediocre team. However, it doesn’t always have to be. The faster that the management accepts their reality, the better their chances in Australia. However, if they keep fooling themselves as they have thus far, then results will be similar next year too.

 

[Mobashir]

These are all excuses...
Against Scotland and Afghanistan they batted first, batted second, lost toss, won toss, there was no fatigue at all. They were acting as superstars again.

They are not just good enough.

 

[Itachi]

Are you saying that the Indian players played to their potential and just weren’t good enough in front of the opponents? I don’t think so.

Anyways the biggest weakness for India here is the same weakness they had in WC 2015 semi, CT 2017 final and WC 2019 semi. As soon as their top 3 gets out; their batting is toothless. I don’t know the last time in a consequential game where their top 3 failed but they still ended up posting a decent score.

I agree. Top heavy without a decent middle order is asking for trouble and sooner or later you'll have to pay the price. That's why I don't feel confident India winning in any tournament because the top will fail somewhere and it will be the end. You can't cover up the middle order in a whole tournament.

 

[TheSultan]

The delusion India has is that they’ve started believing the hype about their bowling attack. The attack is actually not very good. For all the nauseating plaudits bumrah gets, he hasn’t had a telling and decisive performance in a while.

Once the batting fails, the bowlers are just not good enough. India fought back to get 150 vs Pakistan - whatever the failures of the top order, they managed to put a score up. A good attack would have made it a challenge, a great attack would have defended it. NZ and even Afghanistan put Pakistan under more pressure defending smaller totals than India

 

[Babeikh]

Banter, wind ups and trolling aside, I genuinely don't think India have a lot to be worried about. They lost a couple of games, took a bit of time to get going and the format of the tournament is such that it is very difficult to get through if you've lost a couple of games.

Why did it take them 2 games to get going? Maybe some IPL/bubble fatigue, maybe they just didn't play well - yes, sometimes that can happen. But they are too good a team to be out of the picture for long and I'm fairly certain they'll be among the competitors for the title in the next world cup.

 

[MenInG]

India don't play "fearless" brand of cricket in ICC events, feels former England captain Nasser Hussain, and said absence of an alternate plan and selection issues were the reasons for the team's early exit from the T20 World Cup.

India paid the price for losing back-to-back games against Pakistan and New Zealand early on as Virat Kohli and his men failed to reach the semifinals of the showpiece event.

"You have got to go out and express yourself. They (India) have got so much talent. That may be the only thing that's holding India back in ICC events," Hussain said while speaking to t20worldcup.com.

"They don't quite play the fearless brand of cricket that they deserve to because they are so talented."

Former champions India had suffered a 10-wicket loss to Pakistan in their opening match before going down by 8 wickets to New Zealand in the next match.

"I had them (India) as favourites. They had been playing IPL here, are a star-studded side. They got a setback in that first game. The way Shaheen Afridi bowled in the powerplay, those two deliveries that Rohit and Rahul got would have got a lot of great cricketers out.

"That's sometimes the problem with the Indian side. They are so good at the top, some of the middle-order don't get much of a hit and suddenly you need a Plan B and that was found wanting."

Hussain also pointed out that playing all-rounder Hardik Pandya only as a batter affected the balance of the side.

"I see India as a very talented side but sometimes selection wise Hardik Pandya just playing as a batter alters the balance of the side. Against New Zealand, the idea to split Rohit and Rahul was not a good one," he said.

"...I am never splitting Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul, sorry they are just world-class players."

Young Ishan Kishan opened the innings with KL Rahul against New Zealand, while Rohit Sharma batted at number 3.

Former New Zealand pacer Simon Doull said India couldn't produce their best from the start of the tournament.

"India had to be at their best from the start and they weren't. Having been in these conditions for the last month and a half, you might have thought they'd adapted better. "But you can't take away anything from Pakistan. They were brilliant. India slipped and then New Zealand were outstanding," Doull said.

"If you are below your best against top-quality sides you'll get found out and they were."

https://www.timesnownews.com/sports...cket-in-icc-events-says-nasser-hussain/830074

 

[mastimasti]

Arrogance and over confidence among the Indian players, ex, players, experts, media, fans and public. Deserved this slap

This!

The fatigue excuse is **, I've asked the question several times now but what of the kiwis, the english, the aussies all playing in the IPL? THEIR FATIGUE IS EVEN WORSE! Absolute nonsense.

 

[RamLakhan]

Don;t agree with their excuse of batting first and dew problem , other teams had the same issues to deal with .

Their biggest issue has been IPL fatigue, they have been playing non-stop cricket and for being greedy they never adjusted their IPL schedule in view of WC.

I seriously think their players main motivation was to perform in IPL and they would care less about WC , for obvious reason .

Also they had underestimate the quality of players and intensity they would face in WC. I think Hayden was right in saying its different to face ( relatively ) lower quality bowlers in IPL than in the WC. Yes, there are top notch bowlers playing in IPL but they are not playing for one team, they are diluted, spread over so many teams . When Indians faced Afrid and Rauf and Southy and Boults as a pair in a pressure situation they simply melted away.

Indians are living in their IPL bubble and they think that's the ultimate standard of T20 cricket, rest of the world has proven that's not the case.

Too many cooks and Kohli farewell also contributed, to some extend , to their failed campaign.

I don't expect they will do any better next year , they will not adjust anything in their IPL schedule to enhance their chances in the WC. With more teams in IPL now, quality of cricket will be diluted further, season will be longer and their motivation to perform better on world stage will go down further.

Looks like India is not going to take ODI & T20 tournaments (ICC tournaments to be precise) seriously anymore! But thankfully they are taking "Tests" very seriously (except they didn't play the 5th test in England. But the standard & intensity to play "tests" is very serious!) As long as India maintains its standards & intensity in Tests I don't mind IPL. The most disheartening thing for true Indian cricket fans is the lack of skill itself (forget the temperament & strategies) in playing overseas tests over the years which has definitely improved a lot post IPL...

Yes cricket standards in IPL is diluted, but still it is helping players to improve their skills, method & approach towards game! India will still do well in bilateral ODIs & T20Is (the records show the same) even in overseas! Because they will have the time & space to scheme things up about the same opposition. I still think India will win bilateral ODI/T20 series against Pakistan or NZ even away from home! But when they are put suddenly into a tournament with variety of opposition & without much time to acclimatize to the conditions, they may falter... Because they don't seem to give the same type of planning to the tournament as other teams, simply because they don't have "time" for it! Before this world cup (which is big on its own), they played high intensity IPL & high intensity test series in England back to back... It is impossible to maintain & balance the strategies so quickly (for instance India may now start doing well, but the tournament is over for them!)

 

[Devadwal]

1) toss
2) toss
3) toss
4) toss
5) fear of losing

 

[Unbiased-Fan]

1. Kohli's presence
2. Kohli's batting
3. Kohli's captainship
4. Kohli's team selection
5. Kohli for no reason

 

[ishtiaq_ctg]

Before Australia's first match in the 07 worldcup against South Africa, Ricky Ponting had a team meeting where he pointed out Shawn Pollock's form(#1 in the world rankings at that time) and adviced Batsmen to play him out safely. Gilchrist & Hayden laughed at that suggestion and told skipper that they'll smash him to demoralise the entire bowling unit. So that's how that Australian team approached the game.

So for India to become the modern day equivalent of that Aussie side, their approach and mindset towards the game has to change.
Against Pakistan, India didnt play with confidence and sending Jadeja ahead of Pandya highlighted their safety first approach to the game. From team selection to the game approach, India opted for safe options. Blaming Kohli for the elimination is easy but it's also true that this is his first t20 wc as a captain.

Dhoni was more of a failure in the T20 WC(Misbah's scoop being his only saving grace) where he failed in 5 tournamants, 3 of which were held in subcontinent.
So I believe the reasons for those past and presents failures are 1. Team selection. 2. Game approach 3. Poor captaincy 4. Reliance on seniors. 5. Moving away from the approach that won them the first title.

 

[ChennaiFan]

These are the factors I see:
1. Toss played a big role in the outcome of the matches between strong sides. It is difficult to battle with nature and the opposition at the same time.
2. Quality of the opposition - Both Pakistan and New Zealand played very well against India.
3. Team selection - Playing so many out of form players in tough matches will never be a good idea.

 

[DHONI183]

I see that the IPL is being blamed heavily behind India's failure in the ongoing T20 World Cup. The main point where I would blame the IPL is that, due to the great financial benefits and the fame on offer, some of the players might well have lost the desire and hunger to reach any special heights at the international level. I mean, if I were Shreyas Iyer, someone with very little performance to show from international cricket, and were to feature in multiple television commercial ads on daily basis and were talked up as the next big thing in Indian cricket, where would the need lie for me to work hard to earn myself a name if I've been gifted that already? It's not without a reason that we see in films that a labourer`s son wakes up early in the morning in the search of his daily wages, and the son of a rich businessman wakes up past mid-day. It's in human nature, this habit, regardless of how much we deny of this not being the case. Some of these players lack the hunger and desire that the likes of Yuvraj or Gambhir had, yet on the other hand, the likes of Suryakumar Yadav and Pandya brothers have such inflated egos that you get the impression as if it's them, and not God Almighty, who run the universe. I really think that this needs to be addressed before some of these really big names are given the "chokers" tag by people.

 

[sweep_shot]

A few things that I think went wrong with team India:

1) Giving too much emphasize on IPL's performance. What was Varun Chakrabarty doing in the team? Why did he play over experienced Ashwin? That was probably their biggest blunder. Varun ended up not taking a single wicket in 4 matches.

2) Their body language was way too relaxed and perhaps even overconfident. They didn't seem serious when they faced Pakistan and Pakistan were dead serious. They were again way too relaxed against the Kiwis and that eliminated them.

3) They were probably fatigued after playing IPL. Intensity was missing.

 

[captain.hansolo]

1. Losing the toss and batting first.
2. Losing the toss and bowling second.

Also this T20 cricket. The short duration of the game papers over any skill deficiency and one can bamboozle the opposition by controlling a mere 3 over period of the game.

 

[shamaan]

A few things that I think went wrong with team India:

1) Giving too much emphasize on IPL's performance. What was Varun Chakrabarty doing in the team? Why did he play over experienced Ashwin? That was probably their biggest blunder. Varun ended up not taking a single wicket in 4 matches.

2) Their body language was way too relaxed and perhaps even overconfident. They didn't seem serious when they faced Pakistan and Pakistan were dead serious. They were again way too relaxed against the Kiwis and that eliminated them.

3) They were probably fatigued after playing IPL. Intensity was missing.

They proberly played Varun based upon being unknown factor

 

[sweep_shot]

They proberly played Varun based upon being unknown factor

That was not a good idea and it definitely backfired.

There's absolutely nothing mysterious about this guy's bowling. They were hyping him up like he is some type of Ajantha Mendis or Sunil Narine (when they were new).

 

[shamaan]

That was not a good idea and it definitely backfired.

There's absolutely nothing mysterious about this guy's bowling. They were hyping him up like he is some type of Ajantha Mendis or Sunil Narine (when they were new).

It wasn't a good idea but it was risk they were willing to take