The Indian team management has got plenty to think about after another exit from the knockout stage in an ICC event by the Men in Blue. While there has been immense criticism of the captaincy skills of Rohit Sharma in the aftermath of the T20 World Cup, former England skipper Nasser Hussain pinned down the problem is with the players’ mindset rather than the personnel.
Rohit Sharma and his men were knocked out at the semi-final stage of the recently concluded T20 World Cup in Australia after a harrowing loss against the eventual champions England. Nasser Hussain reckons that the mentality of the Indian players cost them the game against England.
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During a chat on Sky Sports with Michael Atherton, Nasser Hussain said, “There’s talk about younger guns coming through but it’s not the players, but the mindset. They need an Eoin Morgan-type character to go in there and say play carefree cricket. 20 overs, go and smash it as much as you can for 20 overs. Play like you play in the IPL and smash it. Do it for India and don’t worry about the noise. Shut out the noise and we’ll back if you are bowled out for 120.”
Nasser Hussain also went on to highlight that the men in blue, under the new regime of Rahul Dravid, played fearless cricket in bilateral series, but once the stakes increased in the semi-final against England, they reverted to their timid selves. The Englishman reckoned that the Asian giants should adopt the attacking brand of cricket in ICC events as well.
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Former England skipper said, “I had even asked Ravi Shastri, he said ‘we played pretty timid cricket’ with the bat and that’s got to change. Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid came to change that, and they did it in the bilaterals, they did it against England. Suryakumar Yadav smashed it around Trent Bridge. The first time that got that into a knockout game, they slipped back into their old way of being 66 for 2 after 10.”
