India are once again out of the T20 World Cup from the Super Eight stage, that too for the third consecutive time, although their performance this time was much better than the previous two in the Carribbean and England.
One can say, India were a bit unlucky in this competition but at times they had the opportunity to control, as to how they would play in this tournament.
Having come into the Super 8 with not a single win under the belt in their previous two editions of the World Cup, they were straight away under pressure having lost the first game against Australia. The pressure definitely mounted enormously.
Although they managed to pull it back with two wins against arch rivals Pakistan and a surprisingly under-performing South Africa, the players will go back a bit disappointed with their ultimate performance.
Once Pakistan surprisingly beat Australia in the game in the afternoon the permutations and combinations for India changed a lot and made life tougher for the men in blue.
Dhoni looked a bit disappointed after losing the toss as he was mentally ready to chase and the inclusion of seven batsmen was because he felt like lot many others that the surface at Premadasa gets a bit better to bat in the night.
But I think he would be extra disappointed with the way his players did not accelerate at the right time. Rohit Sharma got stuck in the middle and had Dhoni and Raina not played so well at the end, India would not have reached where it ultimately did.
Dhoni repeatedly under utilises himself in this format but that’s his decision and although not many agree to it, people connected with Indian cricket have started to accept it.
That he has not scored a single fifty for India in the T20 World Cups is because he keeps batting so low.