India vs New Zealand: Where did it go wrong for India?

Starting from the 2014 T20 WC final India lost to Sri Lanka, 2015 WC lost to Australia in the semi final, 2016 T20 WC lost to West Indies in the semi final, 2017 CT lost to Pakistan in the final and 2019 WC lost to New Zealand in the semi final.

A one-day game that lasted for almost 2 days and a thriller at the end. The underdogs New Zealand knocked out the table toppers in their semi final clash.

Some good bowling by the black caps and Ravindra Jadeja's heroics ensured a thriller for the cricket fans all around the world.

The thriller in Manchester had everything – this montage captures it all beautifully 👇#BackTheBlackCaps | #CWC19 | #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/qwD0siyOcG

— ICC (@ICC) July 11, 2019

Despite of the last three defeats against Pakistan,Australia and England they came out with absolute intent and ran through the Indian batting line up. New Zealand entered the World Cup Finals for second time in a row. They will face the winner of semi final 2 between Australia and England.

With 5-3 in the first 3 overs of the Indian innings the match looked done and dusted there itself but Pant(32 of 56)-Pandya(32 of 62) hung in to stick a short little partnership but couldn't convert those starts. Some Jadeja special was on display with 4 fours and 4 sixes he scored 77 of 59 balls in the context of the game was a match turning innings. But with regular wickets Blackcaps were in the game all the time. Even Dhoni's half century couldn't get India over the line.

India on the other hand played excellent cricket throughout since 2014 in all ICC tournaments reaching every knockouts but yet to win one.

Where did it go wrong for India?

Rohit Sharma's last four innings:

102
104
103
1#KaneWilliamson and his men will be ecstatic to have got the Hitman early!#CWC19 | #INDvNZ pic.twitter.com/rMiBGQcHOg

— Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) July 10, 2019

Over dependence on just one guy: Rohit Sharma scored bulk of the runs this tournament(top run getter) Once he fell the batting collapsed. And its not new, since 2015 when 

Rohit scores >50 runs India go past >300

Rohit scores <50 runs India struggle to get even <250 

The world may consider Virat Kohli as the top batsman for team India and for world cricket but this shows how much dependent the Batting lineup is on Rohit Sharma.

Absence of Shikhar Dhawan: Shikhar-Rohit more often than not provides a foundation for others to come in. KL Rahul looked scratchy in all the innings he played this world cup except the 100 he scored against Sri Lanka. Unable to rotate strike was also his downfall.

Middle order puddle: Its been 4 years now India still haven't found a formidable middle order which can win matches. Poor shhot selection,unable to rotate strike are the main concerns for the middle order. India may have strengthened their middle overs bowling but batting in the middle overs is a problem that needs to be rectified by the management.

Decision making: As Sourav Ganguly said MS Dhoni should've walked in at no.5 ahead Pandya,Karthik,Jadeja. Dhoni should've batted up.He would not have allowed wickets to fall in a cluster, Ganguly added. Experts watching the game slammed Kohli's tactics and the role head coach Ravi Shastri played during the game against New Zealand. Kohli's decisions were out of sorts.

Kohli's at par performance: People may debate on this, 5 fifties in the world cup over 400 runs but as a senior player in the team with middle order jinx he could've played more responsibly.

Hardik's form with the bat dipped since the IPL: 6 weeks ago Hardik Pandya was hitting the ball into orbits in the IPL and was considered as lethal as Andre Russell. Everyone hoped he could carry that form into the world cup and be that finisher alongside MS Dhoni. Since arriving in England he has been good with the ball in hand, not so good with the bat.

Though New Zealand deserve to be in the final at Lord's as they played incredible cricket against a top side