A 10 wicket thrashing at the hands of Pakistan followed by an 8 wicket loss to New Zealand and pre-tournament favourites India are staring at a dangerously early exit from the 2021 T20 World Cup.
Yes, the Men in Blue are not yet out of the tournament, but their chances of qualifying for the semi-finals went from bad to worse on Sunday, 31 October, and what's more—their fate no longer rests in their own hands. Only two teams qualify from the two groups at the T20 World Cup and with Pakistan on a winning-spree, they are set to book the first spot.
Meaning, it will come down to India, New Zealand, and maybe even Afghanistan, fighting for that second spot.
For India to win that race, they not only need to win the remaining three matches with a significant margin but also hope that Afghanistan upset New Zealand.
On Sunday night, Virat Kohli made two changes to the squad that lost to Pakistan and brought in Ishan Kishan in place of the injured Suryakumar Yadav and got Shardul Thakur to play in Bhuvneshwar Kumar;s place. Ishan opened, Rohit batted at three but all the experiments failed as the team was put into bat first and managed to only score 110/7- their lowest ever score batting first in a T20 World Cup. The team was also unable to secure any boundaries between 6th-17th overs.
Several factors, from the batting order to the bowling performance may have worked against the India team, with top pacer Jasprit Bumrah stating that the toss becomes a very crucial factor in these matches given the nature of the pitch
To speak on India’s performance in the match and the road ahead for the team, we spoke with sports commentator and analyst Chandresh Narayan.
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