This must be a heart-breaking moment for millions of cricket-crazy fans in India and across the world, as NZ defeated India by 18 runs in the closely-contested first semi-final of the Cricket World Cup 2019. Heart-breaking, indeed! India finished top in the round robin format by winning 7 out of the 9 games quite comprehensively, losing one against England and splitting point with NZ in a washed out match. NZ finished 4th in the table with 11 points with 5 wins, 3 losses and 1 tie. Indian batsmen like Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Kohli were on great form, while bowlers like Bumrah and Chahal were doing wonders. On the other hand, there was no particular superstar, whom one could place one's bet to win a match single-handedly among the Kiwis. Therefore, India was the firm favourite to win this match.
Then why did India lose? Let me try to find the answer. First and the most important factor in my opinion is the inability of the Indian players to cope with swinging balls. I was astonished to see the balls hardly swung in the previous matches that India played. In other words, Indian batters were lucky to get favourable conditions in the earlier matches. But, they got out of luck in their first crucial match when both Boult and Henry got both swing and movement off the pitch in the first ten overs. All the top order batsmen had to do was to repeat what NZ did in their innings, that is to play very cautiously without worrying about the run-rate. It was not as if our champions didn't try to dig in, but their technique against the swinging ball failed them.
Second point is the ordinary captaincy of Virat Kohli. He has been leading India in all the three formats for quite sometime, but still he looks like a greenhorn. He doesn't know the art of putting pressure on the opposition. He should closely watch the captaincy of Steve Waugh or Hansie Cronje to get some clues. NZ's total could have been curtailed by quite a few runs, had he been shrewd.
Thirdly, carrying the burden of Dhoni didn't help the team at all. He is just a shadow of his former self. Pant could have replaced him, and a good batsman like Ambati Rayadu should have been selected. The selection of Kedar Jadav was indeed very bad.
Fourthly and lastly among the important factors is the absence of the X-factor, the outside influence, which played a very important factor in India's 2011 world cup win. Do you remember the dropping of crucial spinners by Sri Lanka or the missed catches in the Pakistan match? Sorry folks the patriotic influencers could not do anything this time.
Then why did India lose? Let me try to find the answer. First and the most important factor in my opinion is the inability of the Indian players to cope with swinging balls. I was astonished to see the balls hardly swung in the previous matches that India played. In other words, Indian batters were lucky to get favourable conditions in the earlier matches. But, they got out of luck in their first crucial match when both Boult and Henry got both swing and movement off the pitch in the first ten overs. All the top order batsmen had to do was to repeat what NZ did in their innings, that is to play very cautiously without worrying about the run-rate. It was not as if our champions didn't try to dig in, but their technique against the swinging ball failed them.
Second point is the ordinary captaincy of Virat Kohli. He has been leading India in all the three formats for quite sometime, but still he looks like a greenhorn. He doesn't know the art of putting pressure on the opposition. He should closely watch the captaincy of Steve Waugh or Hansie Cronje to get some clues. NZ's total could have been curtailed by quite a few runs, had he been shrewd.
Thirdly, carrying the burden of Dhoni didn't help the team at all. He is just a shadow of his former self. Pant could have replaced him, and a good batsman like Ambati Rayadu should have been selected. The selection of Kedar Jadav was indeed very bad.
Fourthly and lastly among the important factors is the absence of the X-factor, the outside influence, which played a very important factor in India's 2011 world cup win. Do you remember the dropping of crucial spinners by Sri Lanka or the missed catches in the Pakistan match? Sorry folks the patriotic influencers could not do anything this time.
