Former South African skipper Faf du Plessis has expressed his shock after Team India’s campaign in the T20 World Cup 2021 came to a premature end. Du Plessis admitted he had Team India as the favourites to lift the trophy this year.

Virat Kohli’s side began their T20 World Cup campaign with a shocking defeat against arch-rivals Pakistan. Thus, their next game against New Zealand became a do-or-die affaire where India came short again. Despite winning the last three league matches, India couldn’t finish in the top-two as New Zealand’s win over Afghanistan sealed the last semi-final berth for the Blackcaps.

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Du Plessis was among many who had India as the favourites to win the T20 World Cup this year and he was surprised with India and West Indies’ inability to make it to the last four.

“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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He further hailed Team India’s outgoing T20I skipper Virat Kohli. Du Plessis mentioned Kohli achieved a lot during his captaincy and he bringing passion to the team will be how his legacy be remembered.

“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.

Rohit Sharma is appointed as India’s next T20I skipper ahead of the home series against New Zealand.