5 points: What went wrong for India at T20 World Cup 2021
1) Openers' failure in first two games
Indian openers scored a combined total of only 25 runs in the team's first two and most important Super 12 games against Pakistan and New Zealand respectively. Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul opened the batting in the opener against Pakistan managing to add just 1 run for the first wicket before the Hitman was dismissed on a duck while Rahul could only manage 3. Against New Zealand, Ishan Kishan was promoted ahead of Rohit to open the batting but the decision backfired as he failed to get going and was dismissed cheaply on 4 off 8 balls.
2) Spinners underperformed
Varun Chakaravarthy, who was toute as a mystery spinner after being picked in the T20 World Cup squad over the likes of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav, failed to live up to the expectations. Chakaravarthy failed to pick up even a single wicket despite playing three matches for India in the tournament. His below-par performance was one of the major reasons behind India's woeful campaign. While Rahul Chahar didn't get a single game, R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja too couldn't impress much.
3) Wicket-less first game against Pakistan
Indian bowlers were taken to the cleaners by Pakistan openers Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan in their opening game of the tournament in Dubai. Asked to chase a target of 152 runs, Babar and Rizwan took Pakistan over the line with a magnificent unbeaten stand of 152 runs as the Indian bowlers failed to pick up a single wicket against the Men in Green. Pakistan were expected to face trouble during the run-chase as the target was not an easy one but the Indian bowlers were taken apart by Babar and Rizwan, who handed the Men in Green their first win against India in a World Cup game.
4) Batting collapse against New Zealand
After the bowlers' terrible show against Pakistan, it was India's batsmen who disappointed in their next game against New Zealand. The Indian batting line-up played a staggering 54 dot balls and went without scoring a boundary for as many as 71 balls during their innings against the Kiwis as they were bundled out for a platry 110 after suffering a batting collapse. Only two Indian batters - Ravindra Jadeja (26) and Hardik Pandya (23) scored over 20 runs against the Black Caps.
5) India left it too late
The Virat Kohli-led Indian team was all but out of the race for the semi-finals after their consecutive defeats in the first two games. However, India kept their hopes of qualification alive with two massive wins over Afghanistan and Scotland in their next two games. But it was all too late as India's fate was no more in their own hands. India needed a favour from Afghanistan to make it to the semis but a 8-wicket defeat for the Mohammad Nabi-led side on Sunday confirmed their exit from the T20 World Cup 2021.
)
)
)
)
)