Former England captain Eoin Morgan criticised the approach taken up by India during the T20 World Cup, saying it was rather unexpected to see their batters play they way they did, especially in the semifinal. India entered the T20 World Cup this year hoping to end their ICC title drought but were done in by some underlying issues. Their inability to get off to a flying start in the Powerplay hurt them big time and even though they scraped through to reach the semifinal, they were completely outplayed by England in the semi-final.
England put India to bat, and had it not been for Hardik Pandya's 33-ball 63, the team would have struggled to post 168/6. On an Adelaide pitch where 200 was easily gettable, India once again paid the price for struggling in the Powerplay, where they scored a lowly 38/1 – their second-highest after 46/1 against the Netherlands. Weighing in on the semifinal, while Morgan credited Jos Buttler's supreme captaincy, he was surprised to see India's conservative approach.
"I any heavyweight battle when it comes to a side being dominated like they were... and let's be honest, India were dominated from start to finish. You have to continue to throw punches and England did that. Jos Buttler's captaincy was outstanding; his tactics and strategies throughout the whole game were absolutely excellent. England made India play that way; they strangled them and it looked like India didn't have a Plan B or Plan C to fall back on. We were watching and talking about why India chose to play that way," he told Sports Tak.
{{/usCountry}}"I any heavyweight battle when it comes to a side being dominated like they were... and let's be honest, India were dominated from start to finish. You have to continue to throw punches and England did that. Jos Buttler's captaincy was outstanding; his tactics and strategies throughout the whole game were absolutely excellent. England made India play that way; they strangled them and it looked like India didn't have a Plan B or Plan C to fall back on. We were watching and talking about why India chose to play that way," he told Sports Tak.
{{/usCountry}}And rightly so. India's approach was definitely unexpected to say the least, more so given the fact that they had banished this style of play after last year's T20 World Cup. When India travelled to England in June and won both ODI and T20I series against England, they had opted for an entirely fresh, attacking and aggressive route. But to once again go back to the old 'timid' way of batting is what left everyone started, Morgan included.
"Perhaps you can question their planning into the game or the lack of adaptation when England had been so strong. Rewind the clock 5-6 months ago when India visited England and again dominated by playing this free-spirited, very aggressive and positive mantra under Rohit Sharma. We sat back and lauded Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharma but certainly it wasn't evident in Adelaide," the former England captain pointed out.