A second-straight victory, a shoddy batting performance by experienced batters and Virat Kohli losing the toss -- a night that Indian fans would want to forget as soon as possible was witnessed on October 31 (Sunday) as their team floundered against New Zealand to significantly decrease their chances of entering the semis of the T20 World Cup 2021.
In a lop-sided contest where Kohli, his deputy Rohit Sharma and dependable KL Rahul failed to leave their mark with the willow, India managed to notch up just 110 for 7 in 20 overs. The total was far from being an intimidating one, leading to New Zealand marching to the win with eight wickets in hand.
The equation for India now gets muddled up and only Afghanistan's victory over New Zealand can raise hopes of an outside chance to qualify for the semi-finals. A humiliating defeat to arch-rivals Pakistan last week and a lacklustre outing against the Kiwis has also put Kohli's captaincy in doubt. The 32-year-old is yet to lead India to an ICC trophy, and his chances seem low now after seeing his side's ordinary show.
The Indian batters were out in the deep trying to force the pace, and the performance of Kohli's bowlers is also a concern for the management. In the two matches so far in the tournament, Indian bowlers have taken just two wickets in 32.2 overs.
Varun over Chahal?
While mystery spinner Varun Chakaravarthy was clinical with the ball against New Zealand -- giving away just 23 in his four -- he didn't manage to add a wicket under his belt. Jasprit Bumrah was the lone Indian bowler to modified the wickets column by taking the wickets of openers Martin Guptill and Daryl Mitchell.
Hardik Pandya rolled his arms and bowled two overs but didn't add a wicket to his name. Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami and Ravindra Jadeja also failed to mount any sort of pressure on the opposition batters. In the previous game too, Mohammad Rizwan (79* from 55 deliveries) and Babar Azam (68* off 52 balls) had taken the game away from India in Dubai.
The Indian bowling camp's inability to take wickets has raised questions on the team selection, especially when experienced Ravichandran Ashwin and young Rahul Chahar are warming the benches. Bhuvneshwar Kumar also looked out of sorts against against the Asian neighbours, giving away 25 in his three overs.
Chances of Hardik being given the role of the sixth bowler are looking in doubt and Bhuvneshwar also could be playing his last major tournament in Indian colours. The Indian fans would've perhaps started looking back at the team selection for the marquee event, where Yuzvendra Chahal was kept out of the 15-member squad.
