AHMEDABAD: Defending T20 World Cup champions India need “two big performances” to reach the semi-finals after Sunday’s huge loss to South Africa, their assistant coach said.
India entered the T20 World Cup as heavy home favorites but were beaten by 76 runs in the Super Eights as 80,000 fans at the massive Narendra Modi Stadium were stunned into silence.
In their first chase of the tournament, Indian batting fell woefully short against disciplined South African bowling.
India collapsed to 111 in 18.5 overs in response to South Africa’s 187-7 as their 12-match winning streak in the T20 World Cup came to an end.
The magnitude of the defeat left India with a hopeless net run rate of -3.8 and will likely need to win their last two Super Eight matches convincingly to qualify for the semi-finals.
If there is less, India will have to rely on a combination of other results.
“Very disappointed with the performance,” said Ryan Ten Doeschate.
“When you’re thinking about winning a World Cup, don’t expect someone to come and deliver it to you halfway through,” added the assistant coach.
“We made a big mistake and now it’s up to this group of guys to turn things around and put in two solid performances.”
India are grouped with South Africa, West Indies and Zimbabwe in the Super Eights, with the top two qualifying for the semi-finals.
West Indies will face Zimbabwe on Monday evening in Mumbai in their first Super Eight match.
India will next face giant-slayers Zimbabwe, who have already beaten Australia and Sri Lanka, on Thursday in Chennai.
South Africa face the West Indies on the same day in Ahmedabad, where Aiden Markram’s side could put a firm foot in the semi-final with another victory.
“The cape came off”
“Obviously, the way the group is going, you need at least four points to go through now, and it’s going to take two big performances and a big bounce back from everyone,” Ten Doeschate said.
India’s shaky batting was exposed against an in-form bowling attack led by left-arm quick Marco Jansen, who returned figures of 4-22 from 3.5 overs. Keshav Maharaj took 3-24 with his left-arm spin.
Indian media criticized the team on Monday morning.
“The night the cape came off”, headlined the newspaper Indian Express newspaper.
“Sloppy India is reaching the point of no return,” said the Hindustan Times.
India’s first two ultra-aggressive left-handers failed to get shots off, leaving a shaky middle order to pick up the pieces.
Ishan Kishan was out without scoring against Markram on Sunday, while the world’s top-ranked T20 batter Abhishek Sharma fell to Jansen for 15, his only runs of the tournament so far after three ducks.
“It’s definitely not about panic stations,” said Ten Doeschate, who hinted there could be discussions about India’s batting lineup.
“If these guys (Ahbishek and Ishan) bat six overs, the score will be over 70,” Ten Doeschate said.
“So can we get them to tone down the way they play and be a little smarter?
“Or do we just let them continue as they are?
“Or do we introduce a right-hander at the top and make a change somewhere in the middle?”
Captain Suryakumar Yadav agreed that India needed to use their brains during the first six-man powerplay when only two fielders are allowed to cross the boundary.
“Chasing 180-185, you can’t win the match in the power play, but you might lose it,” he said after his team stumbled to 31-3 after six overs, which became 43-4 a few balls later, then 51-5.
“We lost too many wickets in the powerplay.”
The 2024 champions also have the weight of history against them. No team has ever retained the T20 World Cup and no team has ever won the trophy at home.
