20-20 World Cup: Sourav Ganguly terms India’s performance as poorest he has seen in 4-5 years
Sourav Ganguly (Photo by PUNIT PARANJPE/AFP via Getty Images)
BCCI president Sourav Ganguly has finally opened up about India’s performance in the 20-20 World Cup. The Virat Kohli-led side lost two matches against Pakistan and New Zealand and were knocked out at the Super 12 stage. Once billed as favorites, India failed to get going during the biggest stage of all. Ganguly labeled the term’s performance as worst in the ICC events for the last five years.
Former India captain also compared India’s performance in the 2017 Champions Trophy, where they finished as runners-up, and the 2019 Cricket World Cup, where they finished as semifinalists. Expectations were huge coming into the 20-20 World Cup in UAE. India were playing good cricket in the shortest format and had enough match-winners in the team. However, Ganguly and a lot of fans though were in for a rude shock as India crumbled.
“To be honest, 2017 [and] 2019, I think India was good. 2017 Champions Trophy, we lost the final to Pakistan at the Oval, I was a commentator then. Then the 2019 World Cup in England, we were exceptional right throughout, beat everyone, and lost to New Zealand in the semi-final – one bad day, and the entire good work for two months was just wiped away.
“[I am] a little disappointed with the way we played this World Cup. I think this has been the poorest of all what I have seen in the last four-five years,” he said during the show ‘Backstage with Boria.’
Ganguly further opined that India were playing only to 15% of their ability. He also felt there was no particular reason for team’s failure, as at times during the big tournaments teams get stuck.
“I don’t know what’s the reason, but I just felt they did not play with enough freedom this World Cup. Sometimes it happens in big tournaments, you just get stuck, and when I saw them playing against Pakistan and New Zealand – I just felt this was the team that was playing to 15% of its ability. And sometimes you can’t just a finger on it that this is the reason why it happened,” he added.
