A long camp without playing aggressive matches ahead of the T20 world cup, musical chairs at Number 3 spot, overreliance on Harmanpreet Kaur to bail the team out- Few of the issues with team.
In Sharjah late on Sunday night after defeat against Australia, Amol Muzumdar India head coach was asked if he has any word for the team that he’s backing to win the final Group A match. He laugh quietly, after few seconds nod his head, and then told: “That’s a good question. Yeah, that’s a good question, well, I just want to wish Pakistan all the best. That’s all I can tell. But we will be watching the game very closely, that’s for sure.”
And so on Monday, India’s last chance went out of the window. Pakistan team restricted New Zealand 110/6 in 20 overs which gives hope to the India. It could have been a much bottom score, mind you. Pakistani team let fall more catches than you could add together on one hand and it made their own lives harder, not just India’s. Fatima Sana’s side had to chase whatever target gives within 11 overs and they gave themselves a much rigid target than what their bowling performance deserved.
By reaching the semifinal for the first time, they created a record of the unwanted kind in attempting to gives themselves the chance to create history.
On 56 all out which is their lowest score in this format. Pakistani team did not do themselves any favour, Pakistani team surely didn’t do any for India. But in all justice, neither did India.
Long camp
As has been pointed out earlier, Indian team unusually just opted for training camps in the prepare for to the tournament when most top teams played some sort of aggressive cricket in the two months earlier. When the schedule for the T20I World cup announced, you could immediately see India’s first match was versus New Zealand was going to be great. They had to be dialled in from the 1st ball, otherwise it had the potential to be a effective knockout. But we have since been said by the Indian think-tank that they were not quite ready for the surroundings in the united Arab Emirate, and reward the price for conceding 160 versus New Zealand at a venue where run-scoring has not been easy. The batting collapse that night only made matters poor.