Ahead of their T20 World Cup 2022 semi-final tie against England, former England captain Nasser Hussain stated that Team India have underperformed in ICC tournaments.
India will take on England in the second semi-finals of the ongoing T20 World Cup at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday (November 10).
Albeit reaching the semi-finals of the ODI World Cup in 2015 and 2019 and T20 World Cup in 2016 and reaching the finals of the inaugural World Test Championship in 2021, the Men in Blue haven’t been able to lift the trophy.
Hussain argued in a column for The Daily Mail that despite the talent in the Indian team, they occasionally play cautious cricket.
"You have to say they have underperformed in world tournaments. At times they have played some timid cricket with the bat for the players they have and when working for Sky last summer their former coach Ravi Shastri said that is something they have to change," he wrote in his column.
Talking about the Dinesh Karthik-Rishabh Pant conundrum, the former cricketer was of the opinion that the team should opt for the latter as the youngster will give them an edge.
Hardik Pandya should bat after Pant because of his proficiency with the bat in the slog overs, Hussain further noted.
"India had been using Dinesh Karthik as their finisher but Rishabh Pant was back against Zimbabwe in their final group game on Sunday and is a freakish player in his own right. It will be interesting to see how they go with their keeper-batsman against England. I would choose Pant because of the unbelievable things he can do. Ideally, India would want Hardik Pandya coming in after Pant for the last five overs because he is a serious hitter and gives them that extra bowling option," he wrote
Rohit Sharma and his men have been in terrific form in the ongoing major event having won 4 out of their 5 games and will be keen to end their championship title jinx.
(THE DAILY MAIL INPUTS)
