How everything went wrong for India in their T20 World Cup opener

India went down against New Zealand by a huge margin of 58 runs in their opening fixture of the T20 World Cup 2024 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Friday (October 4). It was, by all accounts, a bad day for Indian cricket. The kind of day where anything that could go wrong, did. While it’s easy to point fingers after a loss, India’s defeat against New Zealand had its roots in a series of small but impactful missteps that, when combined, created the perfect storm.

How crucial was the toss?

Let’s begin with the toss. Tosses are always a factor in cricket, but in this game, it played a larger role. Playing the fourth innings on a ground after an afternoon game was going to be challenging for any team. The conditions, pitch behavior, and pressure all conspired to make the chase that much harder. And the dew that everyone was talking about never came either.

Return to form of Suzie Bates

New Zealand came into the match under enormous pressure having lost ten consecutive T20Is. Veteran Suzie Bates was in a rough patch. Bates and the White Ferns were looking for a lifeline. Unfortunately for India, they were the ones that handed it to them. Bates, out of form and seemingly low on confidence after a series of scores with low strike rates, found her rhythm again in the powerplay; it also has got to do with some poor execution from India. The opportunity to keep New Zealand under pressure was lost very early on and they were flying at 55 for no loss at the end of the powerplay.

Tactical errors from the captain?

Like that was in the case of Asia Cup final, India lost their head early in the powerplay and was playing catch up from there. Captaincy decisions on the field left much to be desired. While Harmanpreet Kaur’s aggressive approach works at times, this game called for a cooler head. Especially, during the controversial non-runout of Amelia Kerr. Regardless of what they thought of the decision, Harmanpreet and the coach’s prolonged discussions with the umpires after the decision was made could have easily backfired. Such delays disrupt momentum, and it's vital to move on once the officials have made their call. Although Kerr fell soon after, captain Sophie Devine found another gear from there and took New Zealand to 160.

Rare off day with the ball for Deepti Sharma

Deepti Sharma’s performance was another crucial factor. It’s rare to see her off her game, but this was arguably one of her worst days with the ball in international cricket. Giving away 45 runs without taking a wicket is not what you expect from your premier spinner. Deepti was brought into the attack early in the powerplay and once Gerogia Plimmer took her on, the off spinner struggled from there on. India will be looking towards Deepti to lead the attack in the coming games.

Puzzling case of Pooja Vastrakar

In recent times, Pooja Vastrakar has been the go to pacer for India. But on Friday, the mystery was her absence from bowling after the first over of the game. She wasn’t given the ball again after going for nine in the opening over. This was puzzling, especially after seeing how New Zealand’s Rosemary Mair and Lea Tahuhu used the conditions as a right-arm pacer to good effect. Vastrakar could have been brought back into the attack when Bates, Plimmer and Devine were taking on the bowling. Even while batting, Vastrakar was pushed below Arundhati Reddy in the batting order.

Soft-dismissals of key batters

A chase that already looked tough was made tougher by how India’s batters sort of gifted away their wickets. Openers Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana, both key players in the chase, threw away their wickets needlessly without coming to terms with the pace of the pitch. Consistency of Shafali continues to be a problem. Is there a point at which the management has to rethink about backing her even though there is no question of her potential.

Lack of game time coming to haunt India?

One glaring issue that hasn’t been talked about enough - although the team dismissed it - is the lack of match time India had. India hadn’t played a game for over two months, not since the Asia Cup. While other teams were sharpening their skills in September, India’s players were idle. This rust was evident in their performance, and it’s a factor that needs to be addressed going forward. On the other hand, although New Zealand were struggling, they were taking on the best two teams in England and Australia as late as mid-September.

What’s the way forward for India given they are in a tough group with all five teams vying for a place in the knockouts. They will face Pakistan and Sri Lanka next before taking on Australia in their final group fixture.

Bowling won’t always misfire

Yes it’s an understatement to say India’s bowling unit had a rough day, and deservingly, it sparked a wave of criticism, with some even suggesting Pakistan’s bowling was superior considering how well India’s immediate opponents bowled in their opening fixture. But that can be termed as an overreaction. It was more about the given day, India’s bowlers had a bad day, while Pakistan had a great one. But Indian bowlers would back themselves to come good against their neighbours come Sunday.

Is it time to press the panic button?

One loss wouldn’t eliminate any of the teams given the format of the T20 World Cup. Those talks are premature and those who follow this Indian team will know that they have the ability and resilience to comeback from worse adversities. They have beaten Australia in the group fixtures in 2018 as well as the 2020 edition. Net run-rate might have taken a hit, but in this Group of Death, India can still make a comeback and qualify for the knockouts. Any other readings based on one loss is short-sighted and more about grabbing the headlines.

Time to regroup for India

In the end, it was a collective failure for India and no fun player can be blamed for this loss. The key for them is now to regroup and come back harder in the next set of matches. They have to rethink and could make some potential changes. One thing they can do is to strengthen the batting by bringing in Yastika Bhatia at three and push Harmanpreet down to five to take advantage of the powerplay. Even though bowling failed, they could use this extra firepower in the batting and expect the five bowlers to do their job.

India are far from out of the competition after one failure. As they say, a single loss doesn’t define a campaign, and with the talent at their disposal, they have every chance to bounce back. For that, they will have to address their issues and do course correction immediately before the Sunday’s fixture against Pakistan.