T20 World Cup semifinal IND vs ENG: What went wrong with India’s bowling and how can they make a comeback?

Indian cricket fans are truly disappointed with India’s performance against England in the semifinals. India posted a total of 168 runs, all thanks to Hardik Pandya’s hard-hitting performance in the death overs. Everyone expected the game to be neck-to-neck but in the second innings when the English started batting the match became one-sided. They completed the target by the end of 16 overs. The Indian bowlers failed to scalp a single wicket and continuously leaked runs.

Indian skipper Rohit Sharma was disheartened with the bowling department.in the first over itself, Bhuvneshwar Kumar leaked 13 runs including three boundaries in England. Jos Buttler and Alex Hales dominated the game, the former scoring 80 and the latter mustering 86 runs.

What went wrong with India’s bowling?

India didn’t utilize the potential of leg spinner Yuzvendra Chahal and selected Ashwin instead. Chahal wasn’t given an opportunity to any of the games played in the T20 World Cup. India’s star bowler Jaspreet Bumrah was missed in this tournament due to an injury. Arshdeep Singh and Bhuveneshwar Kumar didn’t live up to their potential, nor did Bumrah’s replacement Mohammad Shami. He leaked 39 runs. Although Hardik Pandya had a good batting performance he gave out 34 runs to England. The team used Arshdeep Singh and Bhuveneshwar Kumar in the middle overs, and then implemented the plans for the death overs. Bowlers like Shardul Thakur and Umran malik were not picked up in Bhuveneshwar’s place citing not having “enough experience”

Apart from the bowling, KL Rahul has given a poor performance throughout the tournament, but still, he wasn’t dropped. India’s reliance on aged players made it worse for the team. Virat Kohli (34), Rohit Sharma (35), Suryakumar Yadav (32), Dinesh Karthik (37), and so on. Apart from Kohli and Yadav, none of the players could make an impact in the tournament.

How can India make a comeback after their humiliating loss?

1. As seen in the tournament, KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma didn’t make any significant impact in the tournament even after being considered two of the best players in the lot. More youngsters like Sarfaraz Khan and Sanju Samson should be provided with opportunities. The real question is will BCCI let go of a star player like KL Rahul?
2. Taking onboard talented bowlers like Umran Malik, Yuzvendra Chahal and Shardul Thakur in the team. Bowlers leaking runs but still being in the team for “having experience” will take the team nowhere.
3. Experienced batters like Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul must work on their form to deliver results at a better strike rate.
4. India lost KL Rahul for just five overs and neither Virat Kohli nor Rohit Sharma found their fluency before 38/1 after which Kohli hit six. On the other hand, England had taken on a different approach. They were scoring more than ten an over and by five overs they already crossed fifty. This states the performance in the powerplay needs to be improved significantly.

Read more: T20 World Cup 2022 Semifinal: England beats India by 10 wickets to qualify for the final