Opening combination or bowling attack: Where has Team India gone wrong in T20 World Cup?

Virender Sehwag and VVS Laxman were among those who blamed Indian batters' tentative shot selection. Only 10 boundaries were hit in India's batting innings as they crawled to 110/7 in their 20 overs on Sunday, with only three batters – KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja – managing to clear the ropes more than once.

"This defeat should hurt Team India. Tentative with the bat, their shot selection was questionable," VVS Laxman said in the post-match show on Star Sports. "New Zealand bowled superbly, but India made their task easier," he said.

"Very disappointing from India. NZ were amazing. India's body language wasn't great, poor shot selection," Sehwag wrote on Twitter, pointing to how India's fielders wilted in the second innings.

Dot balls

Harbhajan Singh said the problem was that India's batters often offered no shot at all.

"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 run was scored off all those balls, the total would have been different," Harbhajan said on his YouTube channel.

Only two of India's batters – Rahul and Jadeja – had strike rates in excess of 100 on Sunday.

Opening combination

India's move of sending KL Rahul and Ishan Kishan at the top of the order was questioned by many.

Sunil Gavaskar said, "I don't know if it is a fear of failure but I know that whatever changes they made to the batting order today did not work. Rohit Sharma is such a great batsman and he has been sent in at No.3. Kohli himself, who has made so many runs at No.3 demotes himself to No.4. A young player like Ishan Kishan has been given the responsibility of opening the batting."

Former Pakistan cricket Aaqib Javed said India's move to open with Rahul and Kishan was probably done after Shaheen Afridi broke through the top order with ease in the last match, but that the change in the order probably sent a wrong message to the whole team.

"Rohit Sharma is one of the best players in T20 cricket but after one blow of Shaheen Shah Afridi, you changed your openers. You brought in Ishan Kishan as he is a leftie because they were afraid of putting two righties against Boult," Javed told PTV Sports.

"Being one of the best in the world, Rohit should have gone out as an opener rather than hiding. It's all about confidence. If your number one player is not confident and ready to take the charge, it sends the same message to the entire team," he added.

Mental toughness

Gautam Gambhir felt that India's problem is mental strength, pointing to similar such capitulations in high-pressure matches.

"This game was literally like a quarterfinal. The problem is with the mental toughness of the side. Suddenly when you know you have got to win the game and can't make mistakes, in bilaterals it's different because you can make mistakes there. But in these kinds of games, I don't think India has got that mental strength," he told ESPNCricinfo.

"It's been a trend and it's been happening for a very long time in most of these ICC tournaments, whether it's the semifinals or the game today as well. When it mattered the most for someone to put his hand up, they just couldn't," Gambhir added.

Bowling attack over-reliant on Bumrah

While India's batting order has taken most of the flak, their bowling attack has been diagnosed as relying too much on Jasprit Bumrah.

"Jasprit Bumrah is a match-winner but they look a bit reliant on him at the moment on the bowling side. I think they could do with a leg spinner in the team, or maybe Ravichandran Ashwin," Muttiah Muralitharan wrote in a column for ICC.

Pakistan's Salman Butt said India should have included Mohammad Siraj in their team for some genuine pace in their ranks.

"I think India didn't select their best combination. How can you not select a player with the best economy rate in the IPL? And the fastest bowling speed in terms of the England series? Yes, Siraj." Butt said on his YouTube channel.

Shoaib Akhtar also seemed to suggest the bowling attack was more in fault. "They have to go back to the drawing board and think if they want to play cricket on Instagram or on the field. Get your bowling unit in order, somehow." Akhtar told Zee News.

Without a win after two matches, India now need to win their three remaining matches and hope for results elsewhere to go their way for them to make the semifinals. India's next match is against Afghanistan on Wednesday (3 Nov), followed by matches against Scotland and Namibia on Friday (5 Nov) and Monday (8 Nov).