New Guinea and Oman kicked off the T-20 World Cup on October 17, 2021. T-20 cricket is a popular 20-over format between two teams that were played in Oman this year, with the finals scheduled for November 14th, 2021. The match featured New Zealand’s Kane Williamson and Australia’s Aron Finch as captains. The fact that the two powerful teams had never won a T20 world cup before made the victory even more historic. After winning the toss, Australia chose to field first, allowing New Zealand a chance to score a large total.
Whereas the Aussies showed terrific courage and truly played as a team. Mitchell Marsh and David Warner played first-class cricket, and the commentators were sure to appreciate the number of boundaries they hit. The team showed a keen and promising form right from the start. Although the NZ team gave a tough fight till the end, the Aussies were in it to win it this time around. And boy, did they win! It was a brilliant all-around performance with some promising talent among the youngsters. A win that would be remembered for years to come.
The other teams which made it to the semi-finals were Pakistan led by Babar Azam and England led by Eoin Morgan who lost with a very small margin but played unbelievably well. Although it was a hard day for them, they did come really close and gained a lot of confidence for games coming up next.
Coming to the Indian squad, led by Virat Kohli, who played his final T20 match as a captain this year, the side underperformed in their first two games, putting them in a difficult spot to pull ahead on the points table. Pakistan had put up a tremendous fight and triumphed in under 18 overs, while New Zealand won by eight wickets in their second encounter. India’s star openers got off to a sluggish start this season, but they quickly caught up, winning their last three matches.
Furthermore, the T20 World Cup follows the IPL, which may have left national team players fatigued. The BCCI had also stated their disappointment over the team players and their overall performance this season. But the squad had given a very strong answer to the trolls winning the latter matches with a huge margin making sure to stand by their title of “One of the best T-20 squad”.
When asked about their overall approach toward the games after losing the first two matches, the team captain replied that they were not brave enough to bat the way they wanted. He even emphasized the significance of winning the toss, which can swing the match anyway. Team India did not make it to the top order despite their last three matches being wonderful to see, with classic cricketing strokes and unparalleled character displayed by the boys. The openers provided valuable support, while the bowling team was on a roll, picking up wickets with ease. The national squad made certain to offer a fitting conclusion to a thrilling series. As their time ended in the tournament the team was seen reflecting back upon their highs and lows.
Kohli was seen mentioning the word ‘fearlessness’ in respect to their approach towards the matches lost and how mindset played a role in that. However, the highlights of their games were KL Rahul being in terrific form and batting courageously. Rohit Sharma was also not far behind in his batting performance, giving a solid start for the team to build on which was much needed. The bowling unit however blew it out of the park with their last three matches. Ravindra Jadeja was named as “Player of the match” in two out of three matches, taking some solid wickets. He truly stuck to his title of “one of the greatest all-rounders”.
Ravichandran Ashwin and Mohammed Shammi were seen taking multiple wickets, showed promising futures for their side. With the team needing to observe Covid-protocols for months on the road, pacer Jasprit Bumrah- their star bowler has also alluded to ‘bubble fatigue’ among a few others.
Team India has been known to have a fighting spirit that comes back stronger every single time. Maybe the games this time around didn’t play out the way they wished, but it sure did give them a wake-up call. We as spectators can only support them in every match and stand strong in their beliefs. The now captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid are all set to play against New Zealand starting November 17. Be it any format, the Indian Squad has shown a positive approach and intent of becoming better with every game. It will be worth it because when things get tough, the tough get going. We got your back Team India!
Written by- Jinal S Mehta
Edited by- Isha Mehrotra