(Cricket news) Yesterday India lost by 10 wickets in the semi-final against England and missed out on a golden chance to play the final at the MCG against arch rivals Pakistan. India's performance in the semi-final was nothing short of disappointing. The 1st innings total wasn't good enough and as captain Rohit Sharma said his side didn't turn up with the ball. In the tournament as a whole India had a few good moments and a couple of thrilling wins but nothing special. For the amount of games India has played leading up to the tournament and the kind of preparation the team has gone through, the performance was nowhere near standard.
The opening combination was the biggest disappointment in the tournament. Rohit Sharma scored just 1 fifty which was against Netherlands and KL Rahul got a fifty each against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. The two weren't able to stitch a partnership together at any point in the tournament which ultimately led to India's lack of runs in the powerplay. The batting was over reliant on Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav while Hardik Pandya also delivered in matches against Pakistan and England.
Wicket keepers Dinesh Karthik and Rishabh Pant also didn't contribute much, neither did Axar Patel. Leading up to the tournament, Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharma talked about being aggressive in their batting style and making the most of the powerplay. The team did that to a certain extent in bilaterals but in the tournament it was the exact opposite. India waited for the death overs to get to a defendable total and not once did they get a mammoth score.
Arshdeep Singh had a really good tournament and was the go to bowler for Rohit Sharma. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel were disappointing with the ball. Yuzvendra Chahal in conditions that would've suited him was not given a single game. The only logical reason for selecting Ashwin ahead of Chahal was the former's batting prowess which shows how India didn't back their batting ability enough. India failed to take wickets in the middle overs and allowed the opposition back into the game. When it comes to batting its more about the game plan and approach but in the bowling department India may need to change the personnel.
The next T20 World Cup is in 2 years time and there will be a lot of changes in this side. The selectors also need to be held accountable as they have failed on more than one occasion. There are reports that the panel could be changed soon and it wouldn't be a surprise. There are reports that a few senior players will prioritise ODI and Test cricket for a while which will be the right thing to do as there are important WTC games and the ODI World Cup coming up.
Also read: Indian women's team to play tri-series in South Africa ahead of next year's T20 WC
