Indian cricket team hasn't stepped up in the knockout matches and it's something which has been highlighted over the years because of back-to-back failures. India does very well in the league matches, but the hard work goes in vain with a choke in pressure games.

Former India cricketer Gautam Gambhir feels the current Indian team can't stand firm in the crucial matches.

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"What sets you apart from being a good player to being a very very good player in a team is what you do on those crucial games," Gambhir said on Star Sports show Cricket Connected.

"I think probably we have not been able to handle the pressure, probably other teams have been able to handle the pressure that way. If you look at all the semi-finals and finals, it just shows when playing really well in the league stage and you don't play well in the semi-finals or knockouts, it’s probably your mental toughness as well.

"We can keep talking that we’ve got everything, we have the ability to be the world champions, but till the time you don't go on the cricket field and prove that you will never be called the world champions. So it's just your ability in those crunch situations.

"I've always said this, in bilaterals and league stages you have got probably a chance to make the mistake, come to the knockout stages, you don't have a chance to make a mistake, you make a mistake and you're going back home.

"So that's where beliefs come into play and that where India lacks in all those crucial games."

Gambhir, who was the highest scorer for India in the finals of T20 World Cup 2007 and World Cup 2011, knows how to clutch under pressure. Indian cricket team hasn't won a single ICC tournament since 2013. They have come close many times, but couldn't push themselves closer to the trophy.