India ended their 2021 T20 World Cup journey on a high, beating Namibia in emphatic fashion by nine wickets in Dubai.
Here are the Talking Points from the game.
Ashwin makes case for himself
There was a time when Ravichandran Ashwin was a permanent fixture in the Indian white-ball setup. However, after their semi-final loss in the 2016 T20 World Cup against West Indies, India opted to go for fresh faces in the spin department. As a result, Ashwin went on a white-ball exile, featuring just thrice in T20Is between the two World Cups.
Ahead of this year’s tournament, there were a few eyebrows raised were Ashwin was included in the tournament. Injury to Washington Sundar, India’s go-to finger spinner in the shortest format, forced Ashwin’s selection, and the off-spinner has certainly repaid the faith in the games he has played.
Against Namibia, Ashwin was miserly with the ball, giving no boundaries away in his four overs as he scalped three wickets.
After a tight over in the Powerplay, Ashwin struck with the first ball of the 9th over, beating Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton with his guile and extra bounce. He then broke the budding partnership between Gerhard Erasmus and David Wiese, getting the better of the Namibian skipper before castling Zane Green in his final over.
With not long to go until the next World Cup, Ravi Ashwin has certainly put his name in the hat for a spot in the side.
Bittersweet end to Shastri-Kohli tenure
The game against Namibia was the 150th match with coach Ravi Shastri and captain Virat Kohli at the helm. Though they registered a convincing win over the Eagles and finished on a high, both the captain and coach would have wanted to take India deeper into the tournament.
The two have overseen some of the greatest moments in Indian cricket history, including beating Australia twice in their own backyard as well as making it to the final of the World Test Championship and semi-finals of the 2019 World Cup. However, a major ICC trophy has eluded the duo.
A new era now begins for India, with Rahul Dravid taking over as head coach of the Indian team and a T20 captain who is yet to be named. Together, they will be hoping to end India’s drought at ICC events as well as T20 World Cups that dates back to 2013 and 2007 repectively.
Future bright for Namibia
Despite bowing out of the World Cup after being on the receiving end of a hammering against India, Namibia have a lot to be proud of. The Eagles, as they have throughout the tournament, showed tremendous fight to make a game of it.
At 51/4 at the halfway stage it looked like it was a matter of time before Namibia would fold, but they showed great grit, adding 81 runs in the last 10 overs. David Wiese was once again in the thick of it, once again ending up as Namibia’s highest scorer in the game.
Though the bowlers didn’t come to the party on the day, there are several positives, especially the performance of Ruben Trumpelmann, going forward.
Having qualified for the Super 12 in this edition, Namibia have booked a place for Round 1 of the 2022 T20 World Cup and the experience of playing against the best teams on the world stage will surely be a massive boost going into the next World Cup.
