It is wrong to blame the Indian Premier League (IPL) for India’s poor show thus far in the T20 World Cup and the team should focus on winning matches first before worrying about net run rate, former batsman Gautam Gambhir has said. Heavy defeats to Pakistan and New Zealand have put India on the brink of being eliminated in the Super 12 stage of the tournament and they face Afghanistan on Wednesday.
“Afghanistan aren’t pushovers. They’ve a better bowling attack than the likes of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh,” Gambhir told Star Sports.
“In such a situation when runs are dried up, batters tend to play for their position, which can be extra motivation. Do that and get runs on the board. You try to win first, rather than thinking about the NRR. Once you are in the game, you play according to the situation,” he added.
Fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah had said after their defeat to New Zealand that the Indian players need a break but have to adjust to their hectic schedule. Most of the players in the team are playing the T20 World Cup directly after taking part in the second half of the IPL and in a gruelling Test series in England before that. While this has led to criticism on the IPL’s scheduling, Gambhir said it is wrong to blame the T20 league.
“You can’t blame the IPL. If anything goes wrong with Indian cricket, everyone starts pointing fingers towards the IPL. This is wrong. Sometimes, you have to expect that 2-3 teams are playing better cricket than you. The earlier you accept that, the better it will be for you,” he said.
“In the previous game against New Zealand, we weren’t brave enough, we were so nervous before the game. What has that got to do with IPL? It was similar in the 2019 World Cup semi-final as well. At that time, we had come to the World Cup after playing in the IPL as well,” Gambhir added.
