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The opening pair of Rohit and KL Rahul once again failed to give India a strong start, falling for five and 27 respectively. “You need strong starts in T20 cricket,” India head coach Rahul Dravid<\/a> said after the deflating loss. Rahul struck half-centuries against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, which did little to convince critics that he is a big match player. While India managed 38-1 in the first six overs, England milked 63 for no loss and never took their foot off the pedal.
Half-centuries by Virat Kohli<\/a> and Hardik Pandya helped India to a modest 168-6 but the target was chased down with ridiculous ease after an England record unbeaten 170-run opening stand between Buttler and Alex Hales. <\/p>\n
“If you lose the first six overs, both with the bat and ball, it becomes really difficult.”
It has been a poor tournament for Rohit whose only fifty came against the Netherlands. <\/p>\n
They often failed to make the powerplays count and the sluggish starts pushed India onto the back foot early, leaving the onus on Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav<\/a> to help post defendable totals.
If well begun is half done, England won the semi-final in the powerplay itself. <\/p>\n
“Once they got off to that kind of start, they could really sit back and control the run rate,” Dravid said almost wishfully.
“On a small ground like that, they were always in control.
“They didn’t really need to take too many risks. They could sit back, not that they did. They played some very good shots right through.” <\/div>\n