T20 World Cup 2021: "The expectation was for India to play like India but it didn't happen" - Aakash Chopra

Aakash Chopra has pointed out that Team India came into their own only after they had virtually been knocked out of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2021.

The Indian team were annihilated by Pakistan and New Zealand in their first two encounters of the T20 World Cup. They did bounce back to register convincing wins against Afghanistan, Scotland and Namibia but it was not enough for them to qualify for the semi-finals of the tournament.

While reflecting on Team India's campaign in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra highlighted that the Virat Kohli-led side were found wanting in crunch encounters. He elaborated:

"Our World Cup was over when New Zealand defeated Afghanistan. No no, hang on, our World Cup had finished when we couldn't win even one of the matches against Pakistan and New Zealand. The expectation was for India to play like India but it didn't happen."

The cricketer-turned-commentator added that Team India's dominant wins in their last three encounters were irrelevant. Aakash Chopra observed:

"So, the way we have defeated Namibia or made Scotland lick dust or won against Afghanistan by a big margin, these things do not have much significance. So, I will not be able to say they have come late but have come well. I will say too little, too late because it was all over by the time we found our groove."

Pakistan and New Zealand qualified for the semi-finals from Group 2. While Babar Azam's side finished with an all-win record, the Black Caps' only loss came against Pakistan.

View the T20 World Cup 2021 time table here.

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"Looks like everything is fine but if that was the case, we should have progressed" - Aakash Chopra

Aakash Chopra pointed out that Team India came third in a three-horse race

Aakash Chopra observed that the spinners and openers' excellent performances against Namibia belied India's issues. He explained:

"A campaign to forget. Ashwin and Jadeja shone and openers also did amazingly well against Namibia. It looks like everything is fine but if that was the case, we should have progressed."

The 44-year-old concluded by stating that the Indian players' numbers in their last three matches do not hold any significance. Aakash Chopra reasoned:

"In this pool, there were only three good teams - Pakistan, India and New Zealand. It hurts slightly if our name is not there in even two of them. It was not even a bittersweet campaign. When you couldn't even stand in the first two encounters, whatever happened after that was like slight stat padding. The stats do not matter when there was nothing left in the tournament."

Team India's timid performances against Pakistan and New Zealand put paid to their hopes of qualifying for the business end of the tournament. It was also a painful end to Virat Kohli's tenure as the side's T20I skipper.