The Wait Continues!! || Exit of India out of T20 World Cup 2022

In the currently going on T20 World Cup 2022, the Indian team was knocked out of the race in the semi-final stage. The Indian team played well throughout the tournament but were knocked out in a pressure filled knock out game. 

The Rohit Sharma led side is currently the number one ranking T20I team, they have been doing pretty well throughout the year. They haven't lost a single T20I series under Rohit Sharma's captaincy, however when it comes to an International Tournament like Asia Cup or ICC Cup, then the Indian team has been doing pretty bad in these crucial tournaments.

I am going to try and speculate several reasons behind India's exit from the T20 World Cup.

1. Unable to handle pressure in knockout matches: As everyone knows the Indian Cricket Team garners a huge fan following from all around the globe, no matter in which country they play, the stadiums are always booked. With a following of this level, players definitely feel supported but at the same time they also feel pressurized, they have the all time burden of disappointing 140 Crore fans. Rohit Sharma, India's captain, remarked after his team was eliminated from the T20 World Cup in the semifinals, "You cannot go and teach people how to handle pressure." He added, "Lot of these guys play under pressure in IPL and some of them are able to handle that. When it comes to knockouts, it is about keeping calm." Sharma received criticism for blaming the team players for his teams loss, but in a way he was true, the players need to learn how to handle pressure and for the matter of fact they do handle pressure in IPL knockout matches.
   
   
   
2. Ineffectiveness of openers: The openers this year proved very ineffective for the Indian team, they started the games slow and additionally got out mostly before even the power play ended. "The Indian openers were timid. In the end, it boils down to fear of failure, which is never the right mindset when you are facing the best opposition, especially in T20 cricket where you have to take the game on. It was a really good batting surface. But both Rohit and Rahul went into a hole," Watson told the Times of India. In the semi final match against England, Rahul fell for a run-a-ball five after just 1.4 overs of the opening stand. Rohit, on the other hand, fought his way to 27 off 28 balls before being bowled out in the ninth over.
   
   
   
3. Poor Strike Rate in Power Play: As shown in the above image the openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul mostly played in the starting 6 overs i.e. power play overs and unfortunately their strike rate was very low throughout the tournament. Under pressure of getting out the Indian players started their batting very slow even against teams like Zimbabwe and Netherlands. Rohit Sharma scored 116 Runs in 6 innings at a SR 106.42 and KL Rahul scored 128 Runs in 6 innings at a SR of 123.08. In the short the Power Play score of Indian team was not up to mark.
   

   
   
   
4. Experienced players ruled out due to injuries: India's balling was seen lagging throughout the tournament and one of the main reasons behind the same was because the fierce fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah was ruled out due to an injury. The Indian Team would have definitely fared better in the semi final match against England if Jasprit Bumrah would have played, as the fast bowler has a wonderful record against the England batters. Presently the best allrounder in T20I cricket, Ravindra Jadeja was also ruled out due to a knee injury. His presence would have definitely helped India in lower order batting and bowling also.