Stop blaming IPL for India’s poor performance in ICC T20 World Cup – Gautam Gambhir

It is wrong to blame the IPL for India’s poor performance in the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup, former player Gautam Gambhir has said. According to him, people should stop blaming the league as players of other countries have lauded IPL for their success in the global event in the UAE.

After losing to Pakistan and New Zealand, India are on the brink of being eliminated from the Super 12 stage of the tournament.

“Afghanistan aren’t pushovers. They have a better bowling attack than the likes of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh,” Gambhir told Star Sports.

“In such a situation when runs are dried up, batters tend to play for their position, which can be extra motivation. Do that and get runs on the board. You try to win first, rather than thinking about the NRR. Once you are in the game, you play according to the situation,” he added.

Gambhir said it is wrong to blame the T20 league. “You can’t blame the IPL. If anything goes wrong with Indian cricket, everyone starts pointing fingers towards the IPL. This is wrong. Sometimes, you have to expect that 2-3 teams are playing better cricket than you. The earlier you accept that, the better it will be for you,” he said.

“In the previous game against New Zealand, we weren’t brave enough, we were so nervous before the game. What has that got to do with IPL? It was similar in the 2019 World Cup semi-final as well. At that time, we had come to the World Cup after playing in the IPL as well,” Gambhir added.