India were hammered by 10 wickets in the T20 World Cup 2021 match against Pakistan.
Former captain Inzamam-Ul-Haq feels the Indian team was scared of facing Pakistan ahead of their clash in the T20 World Cup 2021. Pakistan had defeated India by 10 wickets in the Super 12 Group 2 match, and they later got knocked out of the tournament with a semi-final loss.
Inzamam said the Virat Kohli-led side's body language wasn't positive and he even noticed it during the toss. He added that the team was under pressure and it reflected in their game.
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India had a winning streak over Pakistan in ICC World Cup events before it got broken in the last T20 World Cup. "I feel the Indians were scared even before the match started. Their body language, if you see Virat Kohli and Babar Azam’s interview at the toss, you could sense who was under pressure. Our team’s body language was much better than theirs.
"It wasn’t that India were under pressure after Rohit Sharma’s dismissal. Sharma himself was under pressure. It was evident that they all were under pressure," Inzamam said on ARY News.
India later went on to face a loss against New Zealand before winning three consecutive matches in the Super 12. But three wins were not enough for them to seal a spot in the semi-final.
"Indian team never plays the way they did. They are a good T20 team, there is no doubt about it. If you look at their performance in the last 2-3 years, they were the favourites. But that India-Pakistan match put so much pressure on them that there was no looking back," added Inzamam.
"Their feet weren’t moving at all. After losing to Pakistan, they were handed so much criticism and there was a 3-4 day break. The poor guys couldn’t even play Santner and Sodhi. They are such good players of spin. That pressure mounted on them."
Kohli had already announced he will leave the T20I captaincy after the T20 World Cup 2021. India are currently led by Rohit Sharma in the shortest format and they recently defeated New Zealand by 3-0 at home.
(With Inputs from ARY News)