What went WRONG for India?

dissecting yet another defeat for the Indian

in England’s semi-final victory over India. In any event, such are the demands of the modern game that there are many more players with international-quality experience ready to slot in; injuries are an unavoidable part of the game.

India’s “softly-softly” approach to T20 international cricket also belies a key learning from the IPL and from teams like England: starting slow with the bat is, by and large, a losing strategy.

With KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli all accustomed to starting slow and finishing big, India is overly reliant on Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya to deliver in the death overs. That is a lot of undue pressure given India’s long tail, particularly in the absence of Ravindra Jadeja.

It’s also an incredibly outdated approach. Over the last five years, England have transformed their previously sedate white ball strategy to an almost reckless extent. As India experienced in the fifth and deciding Pataudi Trophy Test, it’s an overhaul that is now bleeding into England’s “Bazball” approach to Test cricket, too.

Of course, as English fans will attest too, hyper-aggression leads to embarrassment at times – England has a penchant for being dismissed for comically paltry totals – but it is also delivering results on the biggest stages, with England the only team to hold both the T20 World Cup and 50-over World Cup titles at the same time.

But India is not, in any event, immune from embarrassing defeats – this tournament proved that once again.

To build a culture of fearlessness, however, India must be fearless in selection (and non-selection). It means Rahul Dravid and the board of selectors must be prepared to have some difficult conversations in the months ahead.