India played conservatively in the powerplay managing only 38 runs while England’s approach was the opposite as they raced to 63 in six overs. Ahead of the World T20 Cup, India had adopted a more aggressive batting approach but the openers, Rohit and Rahul, failed to fire on the big stage. India played a very conservative cricket. Lack of aggressiveness in the opening six overs were identified as an issue before the World T20 Cup, but the Captain and Coach must have concluded that it is a risky approach compared to hoping that the back 10 overs would bail them out from a slow start. Against a good team like England this strategy failed miserably.

Unfortunately for India, Rahul and Rohit could not find form in the big games, putting pressure on Kohli and Suryakumar, who both could not perform game after game. Both Rahul and Rohit have struggled for form in the ongoing World Cup. In the semi-final, Rahul was the first one to depart as he got out in the second over making just five runs. He got caught behind off Chris Woakes. Rohit struggled to 27 off 28 and got out in the ninth over trying to hit a big shot. He was caught at wide long-on off Chris Jordan. Their opening partnership was worth just nine runs against England. In fact, India’s best opening partnership in the ongoing World Cup so far has been 27 which came against Zimbabwe.

Opening timidly, benching leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal and setting a modest target on a belter of a pitch were key reasons behind India's resounding defeat, said former Australian all-rounder Shane Watson. Watson said, "The Indian openers were timid. In the end, it boils down to fear of failure. Which is never the right mindset when you are facing the best opposition, especially in T20 cricket where you have to take the game on. It was a really good batting surface. But both Rohit and Rahul went into a hole. England has been dominating the short formats in recent years because it is playing totally fearless cricket."

Former England spinner Monty Panesar rued Indian opener KL Rahul's lack of runs against stronger opposition in the T20 World Cup 2022. The Karnataka-born opener endured a disappointing run in the T20 World Cup. He managed only 128 runs in six matches at an average of 21.33 with two half-centuries. Panesar noted that India were highly dependent on Kohli and Suryakumar for runs as the rest of the batters failed. He took a swipe at Rahul, stating that he only scored runs against the lower-ranked sides. Panesar said, "Over-reliance on Virat and Suryakumar cost India the World Cup. India were heavily dependent on Virat and Surya. They have been in really good touch and scored heavily for India. But what about other batsmen? KL Rahul scored against small teams." He added, "India needed big scores from him against big teams, but he failed. India needed a solid foundation from their openers. Virat and Surya can't score in every match. Someone else needs to join them."

The Indian captain is certainly one of the best white ball batters around but that awesome Hitman was never really present in Australia. All Rohit could manage was a 116 runs from 6 matches and that because of 20+ score in the semis against England. But his strike-rate was a woeful 106.42 and averaged 19.33 in the T20 WC 2022. It was not the kind of stats the captain and premier batter of a team would want to have against his name in a World Cup.

Rahul hasn’t been at his best after returning from injury as he had an underwhelming Asia Cup 2022 then found some form in the home T20I series against Australia and South Africa. However, nothing has gone in his favour in the T20 World Cup. The 30-year-old suffered the wrath of trolls as the fans were highly unimpressed with his form with the bat in the mega T20 World Cup event in Australia. One tweet branded him as “Rahul is easily the biggest choker in cricket history.”while another tweet was “People need to understand that, KL Rahul is walking wicket in SENA.” Some blamed the Indian Selection Committee saying, “KL Rahul has a proven pathetic record against the Top 8 teams and yet he hasn’t just been a permanent fixture in this batting line-up but was also made the vice-captain of this team. His repeated failures against all the teams (barring the minnows of course) made sure India never got off to a flying start.”

Team India realised early how other successful teams had embraced an ultra-aggressive approach to T20 batting, they also realised how far they were lagging. Coach Rahul Dravid and Skipper Rohit Sharma kept emphasising the need of playing with fearless intent in almost every post-match presentation and press conference they were a part of. And it seemed to work, at least in the bilateral series that they played in the lead-up to the T20 World Cup 2022. However, the personnel involved were slightly different. The likes of Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson knew how to play that way but ultimately weren’t in the scheme of things when the team was selected. KL Rahul, who twice, played a first-over maiden, kept giving India sluggish starts. The same can be said for Rohit who tried right until the last match to break the shackles but simply couldn’t get going. Virat Kohli was fantastic throughout the tournament but his 40-ball 50 in the semi-final match exposed a gaping hole in India’s brand of cricket. These players are conservative by nature and T20 cricket in 2022 has gone way ahead of this approach. While the pitches weren’t the easiest to bat on, Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya showed that it was possible to play at a fast pace on those wickets.

Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh slammed the Indian team management on the non-selection of Chahal. Reacting to India's defeat, Harbhajan questioned India's selection and said he failed to understand why spinner Yuzvendra Chahal kept warming the bench throughout the tournament. Chahal was part of India's squad but didn't get a single game at the World Cup with R Ashwin getting preferred over him. "I don't know what are the reasons that a champion bowler (Yuzvendra Chahal) is not in the team. He must have done something to someone that he is not getting a game. With his credentials, he should have been your first-choice spinner," he said.

Chahal was India's first-choice spinner in T20Is in the lead-up to the T20 World Cup and was backed by the team management across bilateral series. He was expected to lead the spin attack in the tournament but was surprisingly benched for Ashwin, who offered a little extra with the bat in the lower order. Moreover the square boundaries are smaller in Australian grounds (except for MCG) and the team management must have felt that Ashwin will be better economically than Chahal. The primary reason for the non-selection of Chahal must be the team balance. With three fast bowlers in Shami, Kumar and Arshdeep, India cannot have a fourth bowler in Chahal, who cannot bat and hence Ashwin was preferred. Ashwin, to his credit, showed his batting skills on two occasions, particularly how calm he batted in a tight situation against Pakistan at MCG. To be more precise, Indian team cannot afford Yuzi Chahal to play because he will only play when Harshal Patel plays. If Chahal plays, it is necessary for Harshal Patel to also play, because you will see Harshal Patel as a batter at No. 8."

Axar Patel was a huge disappointment in the World T20 cup. His bowling returns have been a matter of concern, with the spinner returning an economy rate of almost 9 runs an over. Moreover he was expected to take wickets but only managed just 3 wickets in five matches. His batting was also a disappointment with scores of 2 and 7 in the two matches against Pakistan and Bangladesh with a strike rate of run a ball. India thoroughly missed Jadeja – in his vital number 7 spot – for a splendid batting and 2 to 3 overs of bowling and acrobatic fiekding.

India team took Dinesh Karthik as the designated finisher in the team but there was hardly anything like that from him. Karthik had a good chance to deliver one blow and finish the match against Pakistan but he got out to add to the existing tension. India batters, and batsmen in general, struggled in the Perth match against South Africa. But a 15-ball 6 and a strike-rate of 40 was the worst among all the batters. Demo Video Karthik had good 4 overs or so to make an impact against Bangladesh but was run out for a 5-ball 7. When Karthik was not delivering, the team management went back to Rishabh Pant but it was too late a measure. On the hindsight, the team management should have given a go for Pant as he is a left-hander too, bringing in a bit of variety despite an underwhelming T20 record.

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has shared that there will be some retirements after Team India’s rather forgettable 10-wicket defeat against England in the T20 World Cup semifinal on Thursday, November 10. However, Gavaskar gave the hint that there are so many players in the team who are in their mid-30s and this might be the end of their T20 career as well. “There will be some retirements also coming through, you never know. This is not the time to think about it. You really get away from it, give it a lot of thought but there are a lot of players in their mid-30s who would consider their position for the Indian T20 team.”