India’s post-mortem: What went wrong for Rohit Sharma’s side

Nov 11: Big games of T20 international cricket often hinge on individual brilliance, and the two best performances of the semi-final came from England’s openers.

When two batters of the calibre of Jos Buttler and Alex Hales get going it’s hard for any team to stop.

And yet their record stand shouldn’t prevent India from reflecting on how their own display contributed to the nature of the loss.

India leave it too late with the bat

A total of 168/6 in a World Cup semi-final is a competitive score. But it’s not a great one, particularly not on a decent batting surface like the Adelaide Oval and against a team with the firepower of England.

The fact that the total was a par score of 168 even with power-hitter Hardik Pandya producing fireworks with a brilliant 63 from 33 balls at the death, suggests that there was a problem of intent.

Whether that problem is a case of underperforming on the day or one of long-running selection errors is up for debate.

Stuttering powerplay does damage

The stark contrast in the game came during the respective Powerplays, where the difference in intent couldn’t have been clearer.

Losing KL Rahul for five early on was a setback, but even so, India went at only fractionally over a run-a-ball during that period of fielding restrictions, with neither Virat Kohli nor Rohit Sharma finding fluency as they reached 38/1 after six.

To have one anchor in the top three is fine, and perhaps a good plan in such a big game. To have two gave a weakened England bowling attack confidence.

England’s openers approached things completely differently, attacking from the off to get their side ahead of the game, scoring at more than ten-an-over throughout the Powerplay.

No penetration with the new ball

The struggles with the bat put India in difficulty.

And yet the total was sufficiently high that some early breakthroughs would have placed England under big pressure.

But those breakthroughs didn’t come, and the captain pointed his finger primarily at a lack of execution from the bowlers.

"The way we started with the ball was not ideal. We were a little nervy. When Bhuvi bowled the first over it swung today, but not from the right areas.

"We wanted to keep it tight, not give room, because square of the wicket was an area we were aware of - that's where the runs came today.

"If we keep it tight and the batsman still score runs, we'll take it. But we didn't do that today."

Lack of a strike bowler stands out

Taking wickets in the powerplay through the movement of Arshdeep Singh and Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been India’s Plan A during the tournament, using spin and bowling into the pitch to soak up the middle overs and then executing plans at the death.

It’s a decent strategy and strikingly similar to that of semi-final opponents England. But when early wickets don’t come, both attacks can look a little toothless at times.

That was certainly the case for India on Thursday, with the absence of the injured Jasprit Bumrah keenly felt. When India needed a cutting edge there didn’t seem to be a banker of an option that the captain could turn to.

That sensation is reflected in the numbers.

Four of India’s bowlers went at more than ten-an-over – Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin and Pandya – with Axar Patel being milked for 30 harmless runs from his four overs and Arshdeep also failing to keep it tight.