T20 World Cup: Blaming IPL for India's poor performance is wrong, says Gautam Gambhir

India suffered heavy defeats against Pakistan and New Zealand in its opening two matches in the 2021 T20 World Cup in Dubai. There has been heavy backlash on team India after the poor performance and moreover there has been criticism on Indian Premier League’s (IPL) scheduling as the India players came into the World cup directly after taking part in the second half of the IPL. Meanwhile former India cricketer Gautam Gambhir has said that it is wrong to blame the IPL for India’s poor show thus far in the T20 World Cup.

India suffered a 10 wicket defeat against Pakistan in its opening match before losing to New Zealand by 8 wickets. Next up, the Men in Blue will take on Afghanistan in a must win match in Abu Dhabi.

“Afghanistan aren’t pushovers. They’ve a better bowling attack than the likes of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh,” Gambhir told Star Sports.

“In such a situation when runs are dried up, batters tend to play for their position, which can be extra motivation. Do that and get runs on the board. You try to win first, rather than thinking about the NRR. Once you are in the game, you play according to the situation,” he added.

Fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah said after their defeat against New Zealand that Indian players need a break but needs to adjust to the hectic schedule. Most of the Indian players played a gruelling series in England before competing in the IPL for their respective teams and then came straight into the World Cup.

“You can’t blame the IPL. If anything goes wrong with Indian cricket, everyone starts pointing fingers towards the IPL. This is wrong. Sometimes, you have to expect that 2-3 teams are playing better cricket than you. The earlier you accept that, the better it will be for you,” he said.

Gautam Gambhir says issues lie elsewhere

Against New Zealand, India’s innings fold for only 110 runs for the loss of 7 wickets. None of the batters in the top 5 crossed the 20 run mark. In response, New Zealand chased down the target with 33 balls remaining.

“In the previous game against New Zealand, we weren’t brave enough, we were so nervous before the game. What has that got to do with IPL? It was similar in the 2019 World Cup semi-final as well. At that time, we had come to the World Cup after playing in the IPL as well,” Gambhir added.

India’s batting order has collapsed miserably in the tournament so far. Apart from the captain, Virat Kohli no one else has got the runs in the two matches so far. Kohli scored a half-century against Pakistan before being dismissed for 9 runs in the second match.

India’s top order has been its biggest strength but unfortunately, this time around they haven’t clicked. Openers KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma haven’t got going. Moreover, the team management’s decision to demote Rohit to number 3 spot in order to accommodate Ishan Kishan has also backfired.