Today’s game in Dubai is a dead rubber, as most expected at the start of the Super 12, but no one projected that India, the pre-tournament favourites, would be fighting for pride, trying to end their horrible journey in the T20 World Cup on a high note after failing to make the semi-finals. Virat Kohli will step down as India’s T20I captain tonight when the team takes on Namibia.
Because both New Zealand and Pakistan qualify for the semifinals from Group 2, the outcome of this game will have no bearing on their fates in the tournament. For the first time in any ICC event since the 2012 T20 World Cup in Sri Lanka, India has been eliminated from the last four. The team led by Virat Kohli will look to finish the tournament on a good note against Namibia. Namibia, on the other hand, has only won one of their four Super 12 matches in their debut T20 World Cup.
This is the first time India has exited an ICC competition before the knockout stages since the T20 World Cup in 2012. Bharat Arun, India’s bowling coach, didn’t sound optimistic during a pre-match press conference on Sunday before the game against Namibia. Arun said, “We are backing Afghanistan to do well in this tournament. But again, in sport, sport is all about ups and downs, and you need to accept and move on. You need to give out your best at any point in time. It was the entire team and they were to do well in the series but that was not so.”