T20 Overseas Leagues Won’t Change Team India’s Timid Approach: Darren Lehmann

T20 Overseas Leagues – The former Australian World Cup winner Darren Lehmann has said that India blew an opportunity in the recently concluded 2022 T20 overseas leagues’ World Cup by being overly cautious in the semi-final against England.

He went on to say that Indian cricketers did not lack T20 overseas league franchise experience, and their only weakness was a lack of an attacking approach, which would not change if Indian cricketers were allowed to play in T20 overseas leagues.

Lehmann said, “With India’s batting strength, you have to wonder why they took such a cautious approach in the first ten overs against England. Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul should have taken more risks at the start, but they chose to play it safe. As a result, the batsmen had too much to do in the death overs at the end.”

India had only reached 38-1 in the powerplay and then 62-2 after ten overs. While Rahul only scored five runs off five balls, Sharma’s 28-ball, 27-run innings was abysmally out of touch. Even with half-centuries from Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav and Rishabh Pant were left with too much work.

Later, England won by ten wickets when Jos Buttler and Alex Hales scored a record-setting 170 runs for the first wicket.

Team India failed to advance past the semifinals despite a change in captaincy and coaching staff, extending its ICC championship drought to 2013.

“Look, India is a very competitive team with the necessary players to succeed. Why are they not doing it, or haven’t they won anything for a long time? The management and selectors must investigate. “Perhaps India needs to reconsider its T20 overseas leagues strategy,” suggested the former Australian cricketer.

Lehmann does not necessarily agree with the notion that Indian cricketers should be permitted to play in abroad franchise leagues to gain more experience and win ICC events like the T20 overseas leagues’ World Cup.

“IPL held in UAE for the past two seasons? And last year’s World Cup was born in the UAE, correct? Did India triumph? It is not about gaining international experience. The Indian players have sufficient T20 overseas leagues expertise and experience playing in various circumstances. It is an issue of adjusting their behavior.

“This is not to argue that they should not play abroad. For instance, we would love to have them in the Big Bash League in Australia. It would be fantastic for the development of the league and some of the younger Indian players. But will it make the entire Indian team sufficiently courageous? No. They lost due to their conservative strategy, and England was able to defeat them comfortably,” stated Lehmann.

The former Australian coach was also dissatisfied with Aaron Finch’s inability to lead the home team to the semifinals.

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T20 Overseas Leagues Additional:

“The competition squandered a chance by not having an Australia-India final or even a semifinal. Australia, like India, must reconsider its T20 overseas leagues’ cricket strategy and approach. We (Australia) were unable to exert more significant effort from the outset. The loss to New Zealand was the cause of our decline in run rate; that loss alone negatively impacted our run rate. The Australian players could not handle the pressure of hosting the World Cup.

It was also a painful sight for Australian fans to see archrival England hoist the T20 overseas leagues’ World Cup trophy for the second time since 2010. Lehmann stated that they deserved to win.

“Look at players like Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes. They rose to the occasion and brought along their squad. They are a really explosive team with both bat and ball, and England is currently miles ahead of the competition in white-ball cricket. Due to the caliber of cricket they played, they deserved to win.

“Consider the semi-final. On a track conducive to spin in Adelaide, India fell at least 20 runs short despite being a formidable team. 160-170 is insufficient for this English team. They are so formidable that you need at least 180 or possibly 190-200 points to defeat them,” he remarked.

In retrospect, the T20 overseas leagues’ World Cup of 2022 was one of the best tournaments of this format, particularly since its beginning in 2007.

Lehmann believed the numerous tournament upsets benefited the sports and that the large crowds indicated this.

“Observe the crowds at each of these sporting events. They were incredible. We had a large number of Indian and Pakistani supporters, as they regularly attended the World Cup. The Australian squad would have liked such backing if they had advanced to the semifinals or the championship match.

“There were several intense cricket matches in this competition. The Proteas’ loss to the Netherlands is still somewhat inexplicable. The Dutch were magnificent in their victory over South Africa. Pakistan certainly benefited greatly from it. However, when teams like Ireland and Zimbabwe win games in the Super 12, it is beneficial for cricket worldwide. It shakes up the world cricket hierarchy and provides us with a competitive event,’ he said. Learned more on Sports update