India’s campaign got started to the worst possible start when the Men in Blue lost to their arch-rivals Pakistan by 10 wickets before losing to New Zealand by eight wickets the next match. India recovered and won their following two games straight by significant scores to ensure they are still in the running for a place in the semifinals.
However, India’s destiny was in the hands of Afghanistan, who required to defeat New Zealand to keep India in the competition. But, Afghanistan failed to do so and lost the game by eight wickets.
The defeat not only halted India’s but also Afghanistan’s dreams to advance to the semi-finals.
Why did India, one of the pre-tournament favorites, throw itself into a position where it had to rely on another team to get to the next round?
While observing India’s record from the time they won their last ICC Trophy in 2013, under MS Dhoni. India had to contend with less-than-expected outcomes, however, they did manage to win two Asia Cups in 2016 and 2018.
Nevertheless, India was able to get to the semifinals and final of major events following its victory in the 2013 Champions Trophy.
India’s campaign in ICC events after ICC Champions trophy 2013:
- T20 World Cup 2014 – Reached finals, lost to Sri Lanka
- World Cup 2015 – Reached semi-finals, lost to Australia
- T20 World Cup 2016 – Reached semi-finals, lost to West Indies
- Champions Trophy 2017 – Reached finals, lost to Pakistan
- World Cup 2019 – Reached semi-finals, lost to New Zealand
These performances in major competitions undermine fans’ faith in their team for some time. But, these performances were still somewhat understandable as the team left many precious memories in the course of making it to the semi-finals and final of any major competition.
Just like 2016 World Cup nail-biting clash against Australia, where India needed almost 12-run an over in the last 4, and then how Virat Kohli turned the tables and won it for India alongside MS Dhoni to help India reach semis.
Beating Pakistan in 2017 and 2019 ICC events in group stages and much more. But their exit from the first stage of the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 itself disturbed the whole nation.
Team India lost their opening two matches against Pakistan and New Zealand. That loses nearly eliminated them from moving on to the next round in a similar fashion as World Cup 2007.
They failed to demonstrate a battling spirit by losing the first game by 10 wickets. And then lost against New Zealand, where they only managed to score 110 runs in 20 overs.
India in Asia Cup 2022
Recently India made a disappointing exit from the Asia Cup 2022. In the continental event, the men in blue failed to defeat Pakistan and Sri Lanka in Super four stage of the tournament that made the million fans of the team more concerned about India’s campaign in the upcoming 2022 World Cup.
ICC T20 World Cup 2022: What fans are expecting from India
Once again, the expectations from the men in blue are sky high. As one side there are cricket pundits, who are tagging them as one the pre-tournament favourites, while fans are confident that the team will clinch the ICC Trophy this time for sure.
The Rohit-led side are slated to play warm-up games against Australia and New Zealand on October 17 and 19, respectively.
While team India will start their group stage campaign against Pakistan at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on October 23.
