Have you heard of the Hollywood Cricket Club, one that was founded by Sir Charles Aubrey Smith, a renowned actor who also captained England in a Test, and one that had the luxury of having

Elizabeth Taylor serving cream teas in the pavilion of the club ground? Well, in the 1930s and forties, it was known for its star value, but no one expected it to set the cricket field ablaze.

The current Indian team too is overloaded with stars, albeit of the cricketing galaxy. But unlike how it was with some glamorous assembly of amateur cricketers, this professional team courts great expectations. There’s no point reasoning, ‘Come on, it’s only a game’, not when the game in this part of the world commands fanatic followings of religious proportions. If you have enjoyed the dizzy heights of stardom in good times, there’s no escaping the criticism when you have messed it up inexplicably.

So India’s “bizarre” back-to-back defeats in the T20 World Cup calls for a dissection. Mind it, Virat Kohli’s India are still padded-up in the race for the semis, their chances hanging by a mathematical thread, so it’s not really a post-mortem. But then no harm in trying to understand what has gone wrong so far… Or what could have been done better.

Bubble of fatigue

For most of 2021 — certainly at a stretch from early July — most of the members of this Indian team have been bubble dwellers.

Hopping from one bubble to another, their movements restricted, the players burn themselves out faster in the mind. And the body reflects that fatigue. As Jasprit Bumrah said after Sunday’s loss to New Zealand, “Sometimes you need a break. You miss your family. You’ve been on the road for six months. All of that sometimes plays on your mind.”

In the two matches India have played so far, they have looked a jaded side. It’s as if they reported for work after a sleepless night. And one can’t blame them for that.

In an ideal world: The BCCI should not have scheduled the unfinished matches of the IPL just before the World Cup. After a tiring tour of England, the Indian players needed rest. Instead, they were pushed into the UAE heat. Yes, we all know how important the IPL’s finances are to Indian cricket, but better scheduling was expected from the world’s richest Board.

Losing before defeat

Captain Kohli’s obsession with “intent” is no secret. He has always insisted on it. But at the biggest stage, the team, including Kohli himself, lacked it royally.

Kohli 9 off 16 balls, Rishabh Pant 12 off 19 balls, Hardik Pandya 23 off 24 balls… Those numbers are from the New Zealand game. You don’t win a T20 match with that kind of scoring from your top bets. It’s not right to say that all these players were conservative because India lost early wickets. All such emergencies have to be taken into account before taking the field in the shortest format.

Dearth of attacking shots — India were without a boundary for 71 balls at one stage against New Zealand — and poor body language, as admitted by Kohli, brought about India’s downfall. When they needed to be fearless, they were clueless.

In an ideal world: India shouldn’t have gone on the backfoot so early in the game. New Zealand were bowling well, but they were certainly not hurling grenades.

Clogged mind

It is really weird when despite all the expertise and support provided to come up with the right strategies, a team takes the field as confused as a kid on his first day at school.

India opted to open with KL Rahul and Ishan Kishan, dropping Rohit Sharma to No.3. With Ravi Shastri as coach and MS Dhoni as mentor, is that the best tactical move that they could devise? One of the best and most feared openers in contemporary world cricket had to make away for a youngster who is still taking baby steps in international cricket? That too in a do-or-die World Cup game?

And what to say about Ravichandran Ashwin sitting out against a side who are not the best players of spin… India bowled itself a googly, maybe.

From the very onset of the match, India resembled a confused side. And as the match progressed, that confusion consumed them.

In an ideal world: Rohit and Rahul should have opened with Ishan at No.3. Though it appears as just a minor alteration in the sequence, many would admit it could have perhaps made a major difference.