T20 World Cup: Harbhajan Singh highlights big reason behind India's loss to NZ

Indian veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh feels that the Indian batters could not rotate the strike, which was one of the main reasons India failed to beat New Zealand during last night's T20 World Cup tie. Speaking on his YouTube channel, Harbhajan Singh said, "You all will be surprised to know that India faced 54 dot balls against New Zealand, which is equal to nine overs. It might be a record where a team has faced so many dot balls in a T20I. If a team plays these many dot balls, it would produce the kind of show India did against New Zealand. If a run was scored off all those balls, the total would have been different."

The off-spinner further added that once India lost both of their openers inside the powerplay, they never got back up from there, adding that the wicket from Virat Kohli further dented India's chances. The Indian skipper managed just nine runs off 17 deliveries "(The) pressure kept building up, and even Kohli had to play the shot he does not play most often. That was a big wicket. Had Kohli remained on the crease and picked up more singles, India could have scored around 140-150. India were left far too behind after the loss of 2 wickets. Even though the target was low, there was no intent by the Indian bowlers. Body language and the fight was missing."

Harbhajan Singh lauds New Zealand spin duo

Harbhajan Singh further praised the New Zealand spin duo of Ish Sodhi and Mitchell Santner for putting constant on the batters despite not getting much help from the wicket. "There was no spin in the wicket, but the Kiwi spinners bowled at a good length, but the Indian batsmen, who are known to be good players of spin, could not take singles. The pressure kept on building, as a result of which a prolific batsman like Virat Kohli had to play a shot which he usually doesn't play - cross bat shot, towards midwicket, against a leg-spinner. I have not seen him play that shot. These things happen due to pressure which forces a player to play the opposite of what he is known for," he added.

Image: AP/PTI