Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra has admitted that India hasn’t yet brought their A-game to the table in the ongoing T20 World Cup. India was reduced to 77-6 against the USA in their tournament’s opener and then found themselves on the ropes at 69-3 against the Netherlands in the last game.
India were 88-1 against Pakistan but posted only 175 runs on the board at Colombo. Batters like Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma, and Tilak Varma have struggled with their form and the team would want them to be at their best in the Super 8 stage.
“I think you are right. We haven’t played our A+ game yet. We have gotten stuck in every game. We were 77/6 against USA and 69/3 against the Netherlands. Even against Pakistan, we were 88/1 at one stage for sure, but after that, we lost a lot of wickets quickly,” Chopra said on his YouTube Channel.
“You can say that we won the Namibia game convincingly, but there too, we scored only six runs off the last 12 balls and lost four or five wickets. I get it that we are not playing that well, but I think it’s not that bad a thing, because when you are coming after playing in one way, sometimes arrogance creeps in, that we are so good that we would keep hitting sixes,” he added.
The former Delhi cricketer said India is not playing irresponsibly as they had done against the USA in their opening game.
“The World Cup was a mirror. When we saw our faces in that, we came to know that we are good, but the opposition is also good. It’s been a slight reality check. The slight arrogance we actually showed against USA, that we would hit every ball for a six, a little irresponsible play, came back to bite us. Then we became a little smarter and started playing a little cautiously. The arrogance has gone out a little,” Chopra observed.
Meanwhile, Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav have played anchor roles in the last two games as India have lost the early wicket of Abhishek Sharma. Chopra said it is not a big issue when asked about the duo’s role.
“I don’t think it’s that big a problem right now because you are not playing 200 to 225-run games. These are 170 to 180-run games. In those games, if a little grafting is required, do it,” he said.
Chopra highlighted that dropped catches are India’s biggest worry in the ongoing T20I showpiece.
“One thing that is troubling us for sure is our dropped catches. We have dropped the most catches, which is not a good thing. We definitely need to correct that, because if we are unable to do that, we would be beaten badly. It’s true from WG Grace’s time, catches win matches,” Chopra observed.
India will take on South Africa in their opening game of the Super 8 stage at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, on Sunday.
