Last Update on: November 8th, 2021 at 07:57 am
The Indian cricket team has been officially eliminated from the ongoing T20 World Cup after Kane Williamson and co. comfortably defeated Afghanistan in Sunday’s day match at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium.
Virat Kohli’s men were reliant on Afghanistan upsetting the much-fancied Kiwis but it wasn’t to be. After restricting the Afghans to just 124, the Kiwi batsmen made short work of the target and marched into the semifinals alongside already-qualified Pakistan in Group 2.
With the win, New Zealand reached eight points having won four out of five matches. India, on the other hand, lost their first two games and can only reach a total of six points if they defeat Namibia tomorrow. It will now be a dead rubber as the semifinalists have been decided.
The group-stage exit will come as a wake-up call to the Men in Blue, who were touted as firm favorites heading into the T20 World Cup. They were humbled by their arch-rivals, Pakistan, before surrendering meekly to the Kiwis. Those two defeats have sent them crashing out of the tournament.
Tomorrow’s match against Namibia will also be Kohli’s last match as the captain of the Indian T20I side as he had announced prior to the tournament that he will be stepping down as the skipper after the World Cup. Under his captaincy, the team has failed to win an ICC tournament.
Here’s how Twitter reacted to India’s group-stage exit:
India’s campaign at the #ICCT20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/VhsdiQld8I
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) November 7, 2021
Journey of Team India in this World Cup explained.#ICCT20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/R0epEkk7bF
— Krishna (@Atheist_Krishna) November 7, 2021
Afghanistan worked hard to support India but they fail #TeamIndia #ICCT20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/BubXuTDWSW
— Hamid Dawar (@DawarHU) November 7, 2021
Sigh.. #NZvAFG #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/Nm6LqIjZxU
— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) November 7, 2021
New Zealand were too good for Afghanistan today 👍 but Heart break 💔 for #TeamIndia 👎 #T20WorldCup
— S.Badrinath (@s_badrinath) November 7, 2021
After a decade India failed to make it to semis in an ICC tournament. But, what hurts more is another great opportunity lost. #AfgvsNZ #AFGvNZ
— R P Singh रुद्र प्रताप सिंह (@rpsingh) November 7, 2021
New Zealand's win over Afghanistan means that India who were the favourites for many going into the tournament are knocked out #T20WorldCup
— Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket) November 7, 2021
Afghanistan sink and take India along with them. Was always a tough ask to win this match. Well played #NZ, recovering strongly from the first match defeat to Pakistan, showing resolve, ambition and high skills in batting and bowling 👏👏
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) November 7, 2021
Fair result. 2 best teams from the group make it. Pakistan And NZ def the top two from the group. Now to the Rohit Rahul era in white ball cricket. Not the best end for Virat in world cups but that’s how sport is.
— Boria Majumdar (@BoriaMajumdar) November 7, 2021
Indian fans in every ICC Tournament since 2013 😓💔:-#NZvAFG #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/5PzpaJOmcE
— Nagendra singh chouhan🥀💖 (@k_p_7773) November 7, 2021
Indian fans after the match. pic.twitter.com/SeShFwfCqH
— Ritesh Chaurasia (@Tweets_Ritesh_) November 7, 2021
India knocked-out of the T20I World Cup 2021 in the group stage (T20I WC hosted by India but played in UAE). Pakistan in semi-final after 4 matches, and India in Air India after 4 matches. Conway hit the winning run & 36* as a tribute to India's 36 all out v Australia 🇳🇿 #Cricket
— Daniel Alexander (@daniel86cricket) November 7, 2021
India knocked out of the group stage in the T20 World Cup 2021, end of Kohli Era in the T20 format as a captain.
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) November 7, 2021
💔💔
— parthiv patel (@parthiv9) November 7, 2021
Next time with better planning!
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) November 7, 2021
After a decade India failed to make it to semis in an ICC tournament. But, what hurts more is another great opportunity lost. #AfgvsNZ #AFGvNZ
— R P Singh रुद्र प्रताप सिंह (@rpsingh) November 7, 2021
New Zealand were too good for Afghanistan today 👍 but Heart break 💔 for #TeamIndia 👎 #T20WorldCup
— S.Badrinath (@s_badrinath) November 7, 2021
Congratulations @BLACKCAPS
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) November 7, 2021
Not the way Indian fans wanted the #t20worldcup to end but “sun will rise again tomorrow” #TeamIndia 😇❤️
— Pragyan Ojha (@pragyanojha) November 7, 2021
What a wonderful performance by #england congratulations on becoming the fourth and final team to reach the semifinals👏🏼 Hard Luck for #india and #afghanistan .Better luck Next Time!@BCCI @englandcricket @ACBofficials @TheRealPCB @ICC #Semis #T20WorldCup
— Saeed Ajmal (@REALsaeedajmal) November 7, 2021
