Indian team had a golden run leading into the Knockout stage of the tournament , with India unbeaten till then. Come the Quarter Finals and India managed to stamp their authority, not sure to the extent to which Bangladesh fans would agree to this. But on Thursday 26th March, India were completely outplayed by the Australia.
India ended their defence of the World Cup as they lost to Australia by 95 runs in the second semi-finals at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Chasing 329 to win, India managed to score only 233.
Here are the 5 main reasons:
1: Pitch: Yes, it has to be one of the main reason. Though flat, but it was not a typical SCG pitch and had noting in for the spinners . Had there been some support, Ashwin and Jadeja could have turned the match. They both bowled well but with no support from the pitch, they were made to look ordinary.
2: Short balls: Indian pace attack did earn a good name for themselves, having been praised by one and all . The main reason was the way they came back after being thrashed ahead of the World Cup. Their strategy was plain and simple, Keep it up , along with surprise Short balls. Today , they went back to what had been their secret of beng screwed, Short balls and that too on a flat pitch with not much of a pace in it. Australians took full advantage of it.
3: Toss: It is something not in control of a player but yet chasing a score in a pressure game can get a team to choke down. Dhoni admitted that he also wanted to bat first. Players can’t be normal while taking time to settle down and this is something that brought to Virat’s dismissal today.
4: Middle Order: Indian middle order did choke under pressure today. With Kohli failing today, they had to win it for India and they all went after taking a bit of time to settle down. Maxwell was made to look good . They were not put under pressure much in the series, apart from the Zimbabwe game but that was a dfferent attack and this was a World Class.
5: Steve Smith: Well talking of India’s stay in Australia is incomplete without Steve Smith. The man has emerged as the leader of Australia’s batting out of nowhere in the past one year. India looked out of sorts against him and he took the match away, setting a platform for the middle and lower order to unleash themselves.