T20 World Cup 2021 | Can’t blame IPL for India’s performance, says Gautam Gambhir

India had a poor start to the T20 World Cup 2021, with it, their chances of making it to the semi-finals have become slim. After their eight-wicket defeat to New Zealand, the IPL came under severe criticism, as it was staged right before the start of the marquee event. After the New Zealand fixture, Jasprit Bumrah admitted bubble-fatigue being a factor in the team's performance.

Former India cricketer Gautam Gambhir has backed the IPL, saying that the Indian batsmen lacked internet versus New Zealand, and that had nothing to with the league.

"You can't blame the IPL. If anything goes wrong with Indian cricket, everyone starts pointing fingers towards the IPL," Gambhir said during a chat on Star Sports. "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.

"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 Indian Premier League as well!”

The second phase of the IPL 2021 was played in the UAE and all Indian players from the current squad participated in it. Gambhir stated that IPL was important, as it gave the players adequate match practice going into the tournament.

“Instead, IPL is important because players need adequate match practice. You can't go into the World Cup with 2-3 games of practice and warm-ups,” he said.

India now need to win each of their remaining three Super 12s fixture with a cconvincing margin, and hope for other results to go their way to progress into the semi-finals. Gambhir feels that the challenge of a must-win situation could motivate batsmen to score big to set it up for the team.

“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,” Gambhir said.

India will take on Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, November 3. Afghanistan have been in good form with two wins out of three, and are currently placed second in the Group 2 points table. Considering their recent from and spin prowess, Gambhir stated that Afghanistan have a better bowling attack than Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, and are no pushovers.

“Afghanistan aren't pushovers. They've a better bowling attack than the likes of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh,” he remarked.