India captain Virat Kohli may be coping criticism for the team’s performance thus far in the T20 World Cup but his teammates and the coaching staff also deserve blame, said former skipper Mohammad Azharuddin. An eight-wicket defeat to New Zealand on Sunday served a blow to India’s chances of making the semi-finals of the tournament.

India had earlier lost to Pakistan by 10 wickets in what was their first match of the tournament.

“Virat Kohli is facing criticism but it’s the entire team and the coaches that have failed and not just one man.
It turned out to be a scary Halloween for Indian fans. #INDvsNZ #T20WORLDCUP,” said Azharuddin in a tweet.

Virat Kohli is facing criticism but it’s the entire team and the coaches that have failed and not just one man.
It turned out to be a scary Halloween for Indian fans. #INDvsNZ #T20WORLDCUP

— Mohammed Azharuddin (@azharflicks) October 31, 2021

India had to replace Suryakumar Yadav with Ishan Kishan due to the former’s back injury while all-rounder Shardul Thakur came in for the out-of-form Bhuvneshwar Kumar but both flopped with bat and ball in Dubai.

Kishan opened the batting along with KL Rahul while Rohit Sharma dropped to No. 3 but even that move didn’t work. Kishan scored just 4 runs from 8 balls while Rohit made 14 from as many balls in India’s below-par total of 110 for 7 in 20 overs.

Ravindra Jadeja top-scored with 26 not out while Hardik Pandya made 23 while the rest all failed to fire. New Zealand, the bogey team for India at global events over the years, embarrassed Virat Kohli’s men, who didn’t even show any stomach for a fight after their skipper lost an important toss.

During the run chase, Daryl Mitchell made a fluent 49 and skipper Kane Williamson remained not out on 33 as New Zealand triumphed with 8 wickets in hand and 33 balls to spare to bounce back from the defeat by Pakistan in their tournament opener.