Gautam Gambhir, a former India opener, has criticized India’s planning procedure for the 2021 T20 World Cup. In the group rounds, the Men in Blue were defeated by both Pakistan and New Zealand. He believes India’s campaign would have gone in a different direction if the headline group clashes had been better prepared.
Gambhir emphasized the value of preparation, particularly in competitions such as this. In their first two Super 12s matches, India suffered a lackluster defeat, and their strategy was highly criticized.
“There is no place for ifs and buts in sport. But things could have been different if India had planned better for Shaheen Shah Afridi. Or assessed the pitch better when they took on New Zealand in the second game” Gambhir wrote
Shaheen Afridi
The struggles of Team India’s top order against left-arm seam bowling have been well chronicled. Against players like Shaheen Afridi and Trent Boult, the top three did not fare well. Afridi sliced up the Indian batting order to start their campaign on a sour note. Meanwhile, the Men in Blue altered their top order in preparation for their match against New Zealand, a strategy that failed.
Waiting for the outcome of the New Zealand-Afghanistan match was a bad sign, according to Gambhir. He said that top teams write their own destiny and do not wait for results to favor them in order to advance.
“As a sportsperson you’d want to be master of your destiny rather than wait for a few permutations to go right to know how far you are progressing in a competition. Indian team would tell you what I mean. Champions train to win, they work hard to score that one run more than the opposition and not wait for the result of New Zealand vs Afghanistan match to know their fate,” He added
New Zealand eventually won by a wide margin to finish second in the group and knock India out of the competition. As a result, in Dubai tonight. As a result, Namibia will be the Men in Blue’s final group stage opponent.
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