Former England captain Nasser Hussain has said Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid wanted to change India’s play style but couldn’t apply the changes in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. India were eliminated in the semi-final stage after losing to England by 10 wickets.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Hussain said former India coach Ravi Shastri told him that India played timid cricket in the 2021 T20 World Cup and the duo of Rohit and Dravid had come in to change that.
The Indian cricket team’s unceremonious exit from the T20 World Cup has raised some big questions over their approach to T20 cricket. The 10-wicket defeat to England has put the careers of a number of veterans on the line. While some suggest bringing Hardik Pandya as the new T20I skipper is going to help the team change the way they go about in the shortest format, former England captain Nasser Hussain feels it’s not the players but the mindset that needs to change. Hussain even suggested that India need an Eoin Morgan kind of personality to make that change.
“I had even asked Ravi Shastri, who was the coach of that team (in the last T20 World Cup) and 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 bilaterals, they did it against England. Suryakumar Yadav smashed it around Trent Bridge, got a brilliant 115 (117 off 55). But then, you’ve got to take it into a game, where you know that if you lose, the sort of criticism you are going to get. The first time they took that into a knockout game, they slid back into their old style of being 66 for 2 in 10 overs,” said Hussain.
Hussain went on to say that India still remain a massive force in world cricket, adding that there approach needs to change in knockout games.
“India is still a massive force. You look at their team on paper. You look at the players they could’ve picked. It’s a bit like England. There were a couple of blows like most sides had, like Jasprit Bumrah and Jadeja being injured. But, when it comes to knockout games, the approach needs to change. There’s talk about younger guns coming through but it’s not the players, but the mindset,” Hussain added.
In a chat with Michael Atherton on Sky Sports Cricket, Hussain lauded the talent pool that India have. Though the injury absence of Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja hurt them, Nasser feels it’s the team’s “timid approach” that cost them the game in the knockout clash against England.
India still a massive force. You look at their team on paper. You look at the players they could’ve picked. There were a couple of blows like most sides had, like Jasprit Bumrah and Jadeja being injured. But, when it comes to knockout games, the approach needs to change.
“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 bilaterals, they did it against England. Suryakumar Yadav smashed it around Trent Bridge, got a brilliant 115 (117 off 55). But then, you’ve got to take it into a game, where you know that you know that if you lose, the sort of criticism you are going to get,” he said.
Hussain feels India went back into their old system in the semi-final against England and opted for a cautious approach in the powerplay. According to him, India need is someone like Eoin Morgan who would inspire them to go bonkers from ball one.
The first time that got that into a knockout game, they slipped back into their old way of being 66 for 2 after 10.
“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,” he stressed.
With the next T20 World Cup scheduled to be held in 2024, a lot of changes are expected to take place in the Indian team, with some fresh faces coming in and a few veterans going out.
