India’s T20 World Cup Exit Raises Concerns About Team’s Ability
India’s disappointing exit from the 2024 Women’s T20 World Cup has raised concerns about the team’s ability to compete at the highest level in the shortest format. Despite boasting a talented squad, India failed to live up to expectations, losing their opening match to New Zealand and ultimately failing to qualify for the knockout stages.
Former India captain Anjum Chopra believes that the team’s struggles stem from a lack of understanding of how to play T20 cricket effectively. “They still haven’t been able to crack that code individually and collectively,” she said. “Certain players, starting with Harmanpreet Kaur, know how to pace the innings, but I can’t say the same for everyone else.”
Chopra also criticized the team’s preparation for the tournament, suggesting that they were underprepared for the intensity of the competition. “When they played their first match against New Zealand, I thought they were a little underprepared and possibly they didn’t expect New Zealand to come hard at them,” she said.
India’s lack of a winning mentality was also a factor in their downfall, according to Chopra. “They never had the feel of a team who were there in the UAE to win the tournament,” she said. “You can expect that also to happen because you’ve just lost the first game.”
Despite playing a series of T20 matches in the lead-up to the World Cup, India failed to address the mistakes that have plagued them in previous tournaments. “The same mistakes cannot happen again and again,” said Chopra. “If the same mistake is happening, then definitely there is a miss in either the skill level or preparation or adaptation.”
Chopra believes that the team needs to identify and address these issues if they want to be successful in future T20 events. “Changing people and setups is not going to just solve it,” she said. “We have everything in our country. BCCI provides us with everything in our country from preparation to games to whatever a player requires to become a world champion.”