Kohli optimistic despite India’s ‘bizarre’ Black Caps surrender
Dubai: India captain Virat Kohli blamed his team’s timid approach for their “bizarre” defeat in Sunday’s Twenty20 World Cup match against New Zealand but has not given up hopes of making the semi-finals of the tournament.
India slumped to fifth place in Group II after their second successive defeat in the Super 12 stage and even winning the remaining three matches would not guarantee a place in the last four.
“Quite bizarre,” a dejected Kohli said after New Zealand thrashed them by eight wickets at the Dubai International Stadium.
“I thought we were to be very brutal upfront. I don’t think we were brave enough with the bat or ball.”
Put into bat, India managed a below-par 7-110, and New Zealand romped home with 33 balls to spare losing only two wickets.
“With the ball obviously we didn’t have much to play with. But we were just not brave enough in our body language when we entered the field,” Kohli said.
A dejected Virat Kohli congratulates New Zealand counterpart Kane Williamson after tournament favourites India slumped to a second straight T20 World Cup defeat.Credit:AP
“New Zealand had that intensity in their body language and they created pressure on us from the first over onwards and continued that through the innings.”
India rejigged their top order for the match with Ishan Kishan joining KL Rahul in a left-right opening combination, while Rohit Sharma dropped to number three.
India still slumped to 4-48 in the 11th over and could never really recover from there.
“Every time we felt like we want to take a chance, we lost a wicket,” Kohli, who managed nine, said.
“That happens in T20 cricket but that’s most often the result of hesitation with the bat when you feel like should you go for the short or no.”
Kohli will step down as India’s 20-over captain after the tournament and the 32-year-old said he was still optimistic about their chances.
“There’s only one way to play T20 cricket: you have to be optimistic, you have to be positive, and take calculated risks. That’s what this format is all about.”
“I think we’ll be fine. There’s a lot of cricket in this tournament and something that we all must look forward to.
“Certainly the team must look forward and go with a positive frame of mind.”
Afghanistan teammates honour former skipper Asghar Afghan, who has retired from international cricket.Credit:AP
While India’s batting has not clicked in the tournament, their bowling unit has done hardly any better managing two wickets from two matches.
Meanwhile, seamers Naveen-ul-Haq and Hamid Hassan took three wickets apiece to help Afghanistan crush Namibia by 62 runs in Abu Dhabi and keep alive their hopes of progressing to the semi-finals.
Naveen did the early damage with the new ball to derail Namibia’s chase while Hassan ran through the middle order as their opponents could only muster 9-98 in reply to Afghanistan’s 5-160.
Seamer Gulbadin Naib also picked up 2-19 in an inspired medium pace bowling performance from the Asian side.
It was the second Super 12 win for the Afghans, who stayed second in Group II behind Pakistan, who have won all three of their matches.
Naveen dedicated his player-of-the-match award to former captain Asghar Afghan, who retired from international cricket after Sunday’s victory.
“I made my debut under his captaincy, so I want to dedicate it to him,” the 22-year-old said at the presentation ceremony.
Reuters
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