T20 World Cup 2021: "There is a question mark over the mindset" - VVS Laxman disappointed with the Indian batters' performance
Former India cricketer VVS Laxman has attributed Team India's loss to New Zealand in their T20 World Cup 2021 encounter to the fearful mindset of their batters.
The Indian team posted an underwhelming score of 110/7 in their allotted 20 overs in last night's encounter. The lowly target proved to be a walk in the park for the Kiwis as they romped home with eight wickets in hand and more than five overs to spare.
Speaking on Star Sports, VVS Laxman was particularly disappointed with the Virat Kohli-led side's batting performance. He elaborated:
"There is a question mark over the mindset because the mindset with which you need to play T20 cricket was not seen. We saw a fearful mindset and batting. It was a disappointing performance from the batters because there is no lacking of experience or talent."
The cricketer-turned-commentator added that the loss of a couple of wickets in the powerplay put India behind the eight ball, with the plethora of dot balls also not helping their cause. VVS Laxman observed:
"But you need to bat fearlessly when you play T20 cricket but the tentativeness was seen in the body language. When you lose two or three wickets in the powerplay and don't rotate the strike in the middle overs, the dot ball percentage increases and the pressure mounts on you. The shot selection was also slightly wrong."
Virat Kohli's admission that India weren't brave enough, and about the consequent indecision in shot-making, is worth a discussion. T20 is about fearless cricket and is very hard on reputations.
Team India lost the wickets of Ishan Kishan and KL Rahul while scoring just 35 runs in the first six overs. The innings never really gathered momentum thereafter either, with wickets falling at regular intervals.
"The only change I will want to see is the mindset" - VVS Laxman
Looking forward to the Afghanistan game, VVS Laxman wants the Indian batters to bat more freely. He explained:
"The only change I will want to see is the mindset. If you play your natural game against Afghanistan and with the positive mindset, you can definitely maintain pressure on the Afghanistan bowlers."
The 47-year-old concluded by stating that Team India will also have to be mindful of their net run rate. VVS Laxman said:
"You cannot lose wickets in the first six overs because the middle order will come under a lot of pressure if you lose two or three wickets. They will also have to pay attention to the net run rate."
It’s not looking good for India.. but we all want India to stay in the tournament. This early exit of India won’t be good for the event 😔 #INDvsNZ #ICCT20WorldCup
The Indian team will have to win their remaining three matches by huge margins to have any chance of making the semi-finals. Even if they do that, they would still need favorable results from the other encounters to make the grade.