Virat Kohli's India and top-order collapses in big games - A brief history
India lost out to Pakistan by 10 wickets in their first Super 12 match of the 2021 T20 World Cup on Sunday. It all unraveled with a top-order batting collapse in the Indian innings.
KL Rahul did well to see off Shaheen Shah Afridi's first two deliveries and then took a single off the third to get India vice-captain Rohit Sharma on strike. There was little that the veteran opener could have done as the left-arm pacer bowled a peach of a delivery to trap him LBW.
India then survived an over of left-arm spin from Imad Wasim. But Shaheen was back in the third and this time it was KL Rahul's turn to face a jaffa. Afridi got the ball to swing in and beat Rahul all ends up. He went through his gates and took his stumps. KL Rahul went for three runs, India were 6/2.
Pakistan did a lot of things right in their first ever win over India in a World Cup match. But those strikes from Shaheen Afridi, coupled with Hasan Ali's wicket of Suryakumar Yadav late in the powerplay, allowed Pakistan to dictate the match from there on in.
A left-arm seamer from Pakistan devastating India's top-order to seal a big win for their team sounds all too familiar, no?
If you are thinking about the 2017 Champions Trophy final and Mohammad Amir, full marks to you.
That was an ODI and India were chasing a target of 339, but the manner in which Amir dismantled the top order was eerily similar.
On that occasion, Amir trapped Rohit Sharma LBW for a duck in the first over. He then got the big wicket of Virat Kohli in the third over as he got a leading edge to point.
Amir also got the in-form Shikhar Dhawan in the ninth over, effectively ending India's chase.
This was not the only case of deja vu for India.
In 2019, India were up against New Zealand in the World Cup semi-final. It was a One Day International, but played over two days due to rain.
India, this time, were chasing 240. However, their chase was over barely before it began.
This time they survived the left-arm seam of the deadly Trent Boult in the first over, but it was Matt Henry from the other end who did the damage.
Henry had Rohit Sharma caught behind for one run in the second over of the match, before Boult trapped Kohli LBW in the third. Rahul then became Henry's second victim in the fourth over as he too edged it behind. By the 10th over, the fourth wicket had fallen, with Henry snagging Dinesh Karthik.
Two rebuilding knocks from Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya were followed by half-centuries from MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja. This saw India come closer in that match than the two against Pakistan, but the end result was still the same.
Top order collapses becoming a problematic pattern for India and Virat Kohli?
In the three major limited-overs tournaments where Virat Kohli has been India captain, the team has suffered these collapses.
It is never easy to recover when your team loses wickets in chunks. If they happen at the top of the order early in the match, it is that much more devastating.
As captain, obviously there is very little you can do about it. Also with Shaheen Afridi bowling the way he did, there was very little the batters could have done much about it either. But it is a problem Virat Kohli would want to avoid if he is to end his stint as India's T20I skipper on a high note.
Same name, same number, new era.
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The only positive India and Kohli can take from this is that the last two times, the collapses came in a final and a semi-final. This time it was the first match of their campaign. They have plenty of time to turn it around and make it to the final four.
This time, the match was a pressure match only due to the opposition and not really the situation.
Time to reflect and come back stronger 👍
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India will next face New Zealand on Sunday, who would have played Pakistan as well before taking on the Men in Blue.
Apart from them, India have Afghanistan, Namibia and Scotland in their group, and are still favourites to go through.
Kohli and co. will be hoping that they have, as they say, gotten that one bad match out of the way. They will be working on how not to suffer similarly again if they make it to the semi-finals.