India made yet another group stage exit from the ICC T20 World Cup. After winning the inaugural edition in 2007, India made the semis on only two occasions (2014, 2016). This also marks an end to Virat Kohli’s reign as India’s T20I skipper. The Men In Blue failed to qualify for the semi-finals of an ICC tournament for the first time since 2012 and will face Namibia in a dead-rubber tonight (November 8).

Meanwhile, former cricketers Ajit Agarkar and Tom Moody have analysed India’s early exit from the tournament. India lost its first two games against Pakistan and New Zealand. The two losses put India on the back foot from where they never really recovered.

Speaking to ESPN Cricinfo, Agarkar said that toss did not play a huge role in India’s results. It was their batting line-up that did not stand up to the expectations. India scored 151 against Pakistan and only 110 against New Zealand after being put in to bat first. Virat Kohli lost all the tosses barring the one game against Scotland.

T20I captains with poor 'toss' record
(min 30 T20I matches as captain)
36.67% – Carlos Brathwaite (11/30)
38.30% – Virat Kohli (18/47)

The best toss record as T20I captain…
61.70% – Daren Sammy (29/47)

— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) November 1, 2021

“The toss did not play a huge role in India’s losses. I think India just did not bat well enough, unfortunately, in spite of having a good batting lineup, which is what cost them the game. If they had scored a lot of runs and lost, you could perhaps blame the tosses, but I’m sure the Indian team would be the first one to say that tosses played a part but not the reason behind India’s losses.”

Meanwhile, Tom Moody said that India did not play their best cricket under pressure. He also said that the toss was not such a big factor in the game India lost.

“Toss did not play that big a role in India’s losses. At the end of the day, India just did not play their best cricket under pressure. That was really the main reason they have not had the success they would have liked in this World Cup” said Moody to Cricinfo.

---