India suffered their second loss in the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 after they went down to New Zealand by eight wickets at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
On a day where it was a must-win for the Men in Blues to stay alive in the tournament, nothing seem to go right their way.
Go out there and put up your best show: Zaheer Khan
India have three games left against Scotland, Afghanistan and Namibia and even winning all of them won’t guarantee them a spot in the semi-final with subject to the net run rate.
Former Indian pace bowler Zaheeer Khan advised team India to still find inspiration to play those remaining three games despite losing both their games in the tournament so far.
“When you are in this kind of a scenario, I could only think of that example of 2007’s 50-over world cup in the West Indies. We lost that first game and after that you know the whole sort of permutation combinations and just a miracle which you are hoping for which will get us through and control the thing which is in your hand which is to to go out there and put up your best show,” Zaheer said on Cricbuzz.
“You know you are you are one of the better teams and you just have faltered in the first couple of games. But you have to somehow find that inspiration that motivation you’re still representing your country at the highest level,” he added.
Zaheer Khan feels Indian batters are not consistent
India lost their opening match against Pakistan by 10 wickets, and another loss to New Zealand suggested the lack of intent in India’s batting.
The top-order has been struggling to score runs, and there was a change in the opening pair as Ishan Kishan walked in with KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma was demoted to No.3.
The move failed as Ishan could add only four runs, and neither did Rohit and Rahul stayed up to their expectations and went out to hit big shots only to give away their wickets.
Zaheer pointed out how Indian batters were inconsistent when it came to scoring runs.
“Indian team walked in to the tournament as one of the favourites. But they couldn’t get going with the bat and that has been the story so far. The batting firepower of the Indian team has not been able to put up that total. Batting first or second does not matter, it is about scoring runs consistently and creating a platform,” Zaheer said.
India will play their next match against Afghanistan on November 3 in Abu Dhabi.