India again failed to make it the semis. It seems to be nothing new as per few angry fans for they expected it to happen. Third time in a row, India had failed to reach the knockout stage. Nevertheless, it was a much improved performance. In the previous two outings, we did not win a single game in the Super 8 stages. Still this did not augur well with the former cricketers and cricket pundits. Swords were drawn against Dhoni and experts began to question whether he was the right person to lead the team. Suddenly, a man who was supposed to be one of best captains of India, was considered to be lacking motivation and will to lead the team. The bigger question is do we have his replacement? Under Gambhir KKR were crowned the IPL champions but the man is struggling with his form of lately in all formats. Viru's attitude is neither helping his batting nor the team as a whole. Kohli is terrific played probably the best ODI player in the world at this time but he is too young to be burdened with the additional responsibility.
I simply fail to understand this question being raised over Dhoni's leadership though the Indian team did not have a bad outing in the T20 WC by any standards. Even going by the ICC T20 rankings, we hold a respectable third position. I agree to the fact that we failed to make it to the semis even though we have players who haved performed exceedingly well in the IPL. Having said that I still believe that we played really well. We managed to win 4 out of the 5 games that we featured in. We were critised for having a weak bowling attack but still we manged to bowl out opposition not once or twice but 4 times which is no mean achievement. Its true that few our batsmen did not play to their potential. Our batting relied heavily on Virat Kohli but such was the case with other teams. Aussies depended heavily on Shane Watson, not just for his batting but for his bowling too. Infact T20 is such a format where one batsman can make a difference. We had one bad game against Australia where we failed to click as a team. Speaking about that game, Aussies bowlers bowled really well in restricting us to a score of 139 which was not a bad score to defend on a spinning track. Going by the performance of our spinners in our previous game against the english ,we were very much in the game.
But short showers during the Aussie innings changed the course of the game. Indian spinners were not able to grip the ball as a result they kept balling short. Aussie found easier to score on short balls. Watson, in particular simply feasted on short balls and carted them for sixes. Once they were in,Aussie openers were at their destructive best and won the game in around 16 odd overs. India played out of their skin in their next game against Pakistan and much to the rejoice of the Indian fan, handed Pakistan a thumping defeat. They even improved their run-rate which had got a beating against the Aussies and were one of the strong contenders for the semis going by their form. It was again, Australia vs Pakistan match that spoiled the party for the Indians. Last time(in champions Trophy) it was Pakistan when it lost to Australia has shun the doors for Indians in the tournament, this time as to return favours, Aussies lost to Pakistan, leaving India with an improbable task of defeating a strong SA team by a big margin. It seemed nothing was going India's way on 2nd October . First, Aussie were simply thrashed by Pakistan which was followed by Dhoni losing the toss against the proteas. India would have loved to chase under lights as they has done in the previous game. India came into bat and against a strong SA attack, scored 150 odd runs which in the end was just enough to win the match but not enough to earn a qualification for the semis.
End of the day, couple of things went against the Indians in this WC which cost them a place in the semis. It happens in cricket as we must not forget that its just a game. Moreover, its T20, where a match can change in a couple of overs. We might have made the mistake of playing 3 spinners against the Aussies but the same team struggled against Pakistan, when spinners were in operation. Questions were raised against Dhoni's decision of the not fielding 3 spinners against the SA. I doubt if that it would have helped as the pitch was really a batting paradise in the second innings. Du Plessis played a gem of an innings and handled Indian spinners without any discomfort. Even the bulk of the wickets were taken by Indian pace trio. Whatever be the theory, I strongly believe that we played really well but just few things did not go our way and we were out of contention for the semis. On the other hand, WI even after winning lesser number of games not only qualified for semis but also won the tournament. This is T20 for you.
I simply fail to understand this question being raised over Dhoni's leadership though the Indian team did not have a bad outing in the T20 WC by any standards. Even going by the ICC T20 rankings, we hold a respectable third position. I agree to the fact that we failed to make it to the semis even though we have players who haved performed exceedingly well in the IPL. Having said that I still believe that we played really well. We managed to win 4 out of the 5 games that we featured in. We were critised for having a weak bowling attack but still we manged to bowl out opposition not once or twice but 4 times which is no mean achievement. Its true that few our batsmen did not play to their potential. Our batting relied heavily on Virat Kohli but such was the case with other teams. Aussies depended heavily on Shane Watson, not just for his batting but for his bowling too. Infact T20 is such a format where one batsman can make a difference. We had one bad game against Australia where we failed to click as a team. Speaking about that game, Aussies bowlers bowled really well in restricting us to a score of 139 which was not a bad score to defend on a spinning track. Going by the performance of our spinners in our previous game against the english ,we were very much in the game.
But short showers during the Aussie innings changed the course of the game. Indian spinners were not able to grip the ball as a result they kept balling short. Aussie found easier to score on short balls. Watson, in particular simply feasted on short balls and carted them for sixes. Once they were in,Aussie openers were at their destructive best and won the game in around 16 odd overs. India played out of their skin in their next game against Pakistan and much to the rejoice of the Indian fan, handed Pakistan a thumping defeat. They even improved their run-rate which had got a beating against the Aussies and were one of the strong contenders for the semis going by their form. It was again, Australia vs Pakistan match that spoiled the party for the Indians. Last time(in champions Trophy) it was Pakistan when it lost to Australia has shun the doors for Indians in the tournament, this time as to return favours, Aussies lost to Pakistan, leaving India with an improbable task of defeating a strong SA team by a big margin. It seemed nothing was going India's way on 2nd October . First, Aussie were simply thrashed by Pakistan which was followed by Dhoni losing the toss against the proteas. India would have loved to chase under lights as they has done in the previous game. India came into bat and against a strong SA attack, scored 150 odd runs which in the end was just enough to win the match but not enough to earn a qualification for the semis.
End of the day, couple of things went against the Indians in this WC which cost them a place in the semis. It happens in cricket as we must not forget that its just a game. Moreover, its T20, where a match can change in a couple of overs. We might have made the mistake of playing 3 spinners against the Aussies but the same team struggled against Pakistan, when spinners were in operation. Questions were raised against Dhoni's decision of the not fielding 3 spinners against the SA. I doubt if that it would have helped as the pitch was really a batting paradise in the second innings. Du Plessis played a gem of an innings and handled Indian spinners without any discomfort. Even the bulk of the wickets were taken by Indian pace trio. Whatever be the theory, I strongly believe that we played really well but just few things did not go our way and we were out of contention for the semis. On the other hand, WI even after winning lesser number of games not only qualified for semis but also won the tournament. This is T20 for you.
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