NZ beat IND – T20 World Cup: A week after India were hammered by 10 wickets at the hands of Pakistan, there was no change in fortunes as New Zealand thrashed Virat Kohli & Co by 8 wickets to dent their semifinal hopes. While such performances are not synonymous with Team India, Jasprit Bumrah raised a valid point, ‘FATIGUE’. Indian stars have been constantly playing cricket and fatigue has been a major reason behind their disastrous show.
“Absolutely, at times you need a break. You miss your family sometimes. We have been on the road for six months. So, all of that play in back of your mind. BCCI has tried their best to help out but it does creep in at times when you are not with your family for such a long time. Bubble fatigue and mental fatigue do creep in,” Jasprit Bumrah said at the post-match press conference.
Watch the post-match press conference here:
NZ beat IND: Fatigued Jasprit Bumrah raises valid point after New Zealand thrashing, ‘We need a break’
Since the Australia series in late December and early January, India have been playing cricket constantly. The Australia series was followed by England series at home in 15 days time. After the long home series, Jasprit Bumrah, Virat Kohli & Co played in the IPL 2021 Phase 1.
NZ beat IND, T20 World Cup: While the suspension of the tournament due to the second wave was a relief and gave the players a month of break, it was followed by a long England tour. It was immediately followed by IPL 2021 Phase 2 and then T20 World Cup.
NZ beat IND: Fatigued Jasprit Bumrah raises valid point after New Zealand thrashing, ‘We need a break’
On Sunday, many players looked jaded as they did in the match against Pakistan. While a seven-day break did help India recover but they were still in a bio-bubble. Jasprit Bumrah said fatigue did play a role but refused to use it as an excuse. That he has played all the Test matches in England and then all the IPL matches prove a point.
“We have tried our best to adapt. But when we take the field, we do not think about those. You don’t control a lot of things including the scheduling, what tournament is played when,” Jasrpit Bumrah added.
Can we talk about players exhaustion? All the criticism on them is justified but I guess India lost because of fatigue and then unwarranted noise on social media coming second. @bhak_sala @BCCI
— hardik (@hardikshah2711) October 31, 2021
NZ beat IND, T20 World Cup: As for the match, India did not get any momentum right from the toss. Virat Kohli lost yet another toss and were forced to bat first while their changes in batting order and team selection flopped.
- India’s selection made no impact: Ishan Kishan and Shardul Thakur flopped. Kishan scored 4 while Shardul was dismissed on a duck. With the ball, Shardul conceded 17 runs in just 1.3 overs.
- Rohit Sharma at No 3 didn’t work out and nor did Virat Kohli at No 4. Rohit scored 14 while Kohli scored 9.
- KL had another off day despite a good start and was dismissed on 18.
- Rishabh Pant failed with just 13.
- Bowlers apart from Bumrah didn’t have a good day. Ravindra Jadeja was hammered while Varun Chakaravarthy could not get any wickets. Shardul and Shami were ineffective.
NZ beat IND: Fatigued Jasprit Bumrah raises valid point after New Zealand thrashing, ‘We need a break’
“In hindsight, we could say a lot of things. We would have loved a lot more runs and a lot more wickets. There’s dew in the second innings so the ball doesn’t grip and the options become very little and rare for the bowlers. You know, the margin of the error goes down. So in hindsight, you might say that ‘OK Ashwin might have made a difference’ but it’s too difficult to judge right now,” Bumrah said.
NZ beat IND, T20 World Cup: However, with India facing a difficult path to the semifinals now especially with Afghanistan winning two of their matches with a good net run rate, Jasprit Bumrah said the team will move forward.
“As a sportsman, you face a lot of days in cricket. Some days will be good, some days will be bad. What I try to do this is not getting very high when good days happen and not getting very low when bad days happen. All of these things are always a part and parcel of a cricketer’s life. Trying to stay in the moment, analyze what went wrong and what went well – that’s the only way you can move forward in this game,” Bumrah said.
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