India bowed out of the ICC World Twenty20 on Thursday with West Indies winning by seven wickets to reach the Final.
Chasing a big total of 193 against India in the semi-final clash, the Windies failed to manage a good start and lost two wickets in the early overs, including Gayle's. But it was the crucial partnership between Charles (52) and Simmons (82*) and further contribution by Russel (43), brought the Windies back into the game.
India’s star batsman at the moment Virat Kohli’s unbeaten 89 runs off 47 balls went in vain as India failed to defend their 192 runs. West Indies won the game by 7 wickets and will play against England in the finals on Sunday evening.
India’s batsmen didn’t fail the team in this match and yet the team lost, disappointing over a billion cricket fans in and outside India. Here are the top blunders the team committed which led to their lost.
BLUNDER 1: Unable to break the partnership between Johnson Charles and Lendl Simmons
Indian bowlers failed to break this crucial partnership. Simmons turned out to be lucky – for what else can explain that he got out twice but both the times it turned out to be a no-ball. He was caught off no-balls from R Ashwin and Hardik Pandya when 18 and 50 respectively and then thanks to his power-packed shots across the boundaries, he turned this run-chase into a walk in the park.
BLUNDER 2: Bowlers failed India
Poor bowling by Team India failed to take on the Caribbean batsmen. The figures speak for themselves.
BLUNDER 3: INDIAN TOTAL OF 192 NOT ENOUGH
India lost the crucial toss and played on the pitch that did not favour the spinners in the second half of the match. Team India appeared short of 30/35 runs considering it was going to bowl on the Wankhede pitch in the second half. Ajinkya Rahane slowed the Indian innings in the middle. India still had eight wickets but Rahane scored at the strike rate of 114.90, making 40 runs in 35 balls in the innings. A total of 220/230 might have turned out in India’s favour, which even Captain Dhoni accepted in the post-match conference.
After India’s disappointing loss, the Indian side had some comforting words from Sachin Tendulkar. After the loss, he tweeted:
West Indies will now face England in the finals on Sunday evening. The team, jubilant, after beating India on home ground broke into their 'champion' dance.
#WI do the #Champion dance straight after sealing their spot in the #WT20 Final! #INDvWI pic.twitter.com/56vDC9Afe7 — ICC (@ICC) March 31, 2016
