Three times in as many years have Kane Williamson’s New Zealand denied India success at ICC tournaments, the latest instance being yesterday’s eight-wicket victory over Afghanistan at the T20 World Cup in the UAE
NZ skipper Kane Williamson during his 40 not out against Afghanistan yesterday. Pic/Getty Images
What ought to have been a momentous World Cup for India’s outgoing T20 captain Virat Kohli and head coach Ravi Shastri, will after all end with a whimper, much to the chagrin of their fans, who were expecting the duo to finish their tenures on a high.
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To add to the disappointment, this is not the first time that the two will be returning from an ICC event without a trophy. And it’s also not the first time that the Kiwis are responsible for this. In fact, it’s now thrice in the last three years that Kane Williamson’s New Zealand have outsmarted and denied India success at ICC events.
The first of the three being the semi-finals of the 2019 World Cup. The second time was the final of the World Test Championship in June this year. And the third being at this T20 World Cup in the UAE where they jolted India two times—once directly when they beat them in Dubai, and the other indirectly, when they beat Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi by eight wickets on Sunday.
India’s dreams have come crashing down even before they play their final league match against Namibia today. The shattering moment came when Afghanistan failed to match New Zealand’s might, thereby knocking themselves and India out of the competition.
India have only themselves to blame as they had three lesser teams—Afghanistan, Scotland and Namibia in their group. However, after losing their first two games, to Pakistan and New Zealand, the qualification equation went out of their hands. If at all India had any hope it was because they battered Afghanistan and Scotland in subsequent games. India were then hoping against hope for a miracle in the form of an Afghanistan win over New Zealand, but that task proved well beyond the Afghans.
In a pre-match virtual media interaction, bowling coach Bharat Arun admitted that India had entered the tournament with high hopes: “There is no doubt we are a good side and were the favourites going into the tournament. Unfortunately, we lost the first two games and that put us back. The toss played a vital role as it gave undue advantage to the side batting second. And that’s what happened to us against Pakistan and New Zealand. We are offering no excuses, as we realise we could have batted and bowled much better in those games.”
Of course, India will have a new T20 captain, new head coach, Rahul Dravid, and a new bowling coach too, when they host New Zealand for three T20Is, beginning November 17. But before that they must complete their assignment here, by taking on Namibia in Dubai today. And what could have been a match to prepare for their grand entry into the semi-finals, has become an inconsequential affair.
Being Kohli’s farewell game as T20 captain, one can assume that he would like to take charge for one last time and end on a winning note. India would probably give a couple of young players like Ishan Kishan and Rahul Chahar an opportunity before the NZ T20I series back home.
Surely, it’s the end of an era for India in T20I cricket, and from here on, the Indian selectors will hopefully focus on blooding a few youngsters as they prepare for another T20 World Cup, this time under Dravid, in a year’s time in Australia.
2019 ICC World Cup semi-finals
Kane Williamson and Virat Kohli. Pic/AFP
July 9: NZ beat India by 10 runs at Manchester
2021 ICC World Test Championship Final
Kane Williamson and Virat Kohli. Pic/AFP
June 18-23: NZ beat India by eight wickets at Southampton
Semi-final line-up
. England v New Zealand,
Wednesday, Nov 10, 19:30
. Pakistan v Australia
Thursday, Nov 11, 19:30
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