India's campaign at the T20 World Cup 2021 came to an end on Monday, following their final Round 12 match against Namibia. The Men in Blue played extremely well in their final three games of the World Cup, but that would not prove enough to nullify the repercussion of a poor start to the tournament that the team endured. Defeats to Pakistan and New Zealand in their first two games pushed India into a corner from where they were left to play catch up.
Despite putting up a brace show against Afghanistan and Scotland, Afghanistan's defeat to New Zealand dashed India's hopes of qualifying to the semi-finals – the first time it has happened in eight ICC events. Such an ending was not what many expected from the Indian team, who were termed 'favourites' with the World Cup being held at 'home'. Among those surprised is former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis, who admitted that seeing India getting knocked out is not something he thought he would see.
"Definitely not, I had India as favourites… one of the favourites for the tournament but this T20 World Cup is a tough one, isn’t it? There are so many teams and it is just straight to semi-finals. If you have one bad game, you can be out of the competition so it's really tough to make that final four. But I would have India and West Indies in the final four," du Plessis said in a video shared by Abu Dhabi T10 league.
{{/usCountry}}"Definitely not, I had India as favourites… one of the favourites for the tournament but this T20 World Cup is a tough one, isn’t it? There are so many teams and it is just straight to semi-finals. If you have one bad game, you can be out of the competition so it's really tough to make that final four. But I would have India and West Indies in the final four," du Plessis said in a video shared by Abu Dhabi T10 league.
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Du Plessis hailed India’s outgoing T20I captain Virat Kohli, saying what he achieved during his tenure as the country’s T20I skipper will be remembered for a long time. Appointed captain of India's limited-overs sides in 2017, Kohli brought something unique to the side, mentioned du Plessis and explained how that would define his legacy as skipper of the team's shortest format.
"He has been the captain for a long time so first of all, that’s a great achievement. To be in the job for so long, his record is very strong. He has led that team very well. He’s had a very good side captain but I think Virat has brought something different to the Indian side, which would probably be his legacy. The fighting spirit, the passion that he carries really well. That is the biggest asset, that blueprint he would have left on the team," added du Plessis.