Former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar criticised India for their ‘over-confident approach’ during their shock defeat to New Zealand in the ICC World T20 opener, in Nagpur, on Tuesday.
The Men in Blue were expected to beat the Kiwis, who were without their retired skipper Brendon McCullum. However, the start-studded Indian batting, billed as warm favourites to win the tournament for a second time, was undone by New Zealand's spin trio of Nathan McCullum, Ish Sodhi and man-of-the-match Mitchell Santner and bundled out for just 79, their fifth loss from five completed T20 internationals against the Black Caps.
Gavaskar said India's batsmen had to take the blame for the defeat.
Chasing just 127 to win, only three Indian batsmen got into double figures, three of their top four batsmen dismissed inside the first three overs.
"You've got to show a little bit of respect to the opposition," Gavaskar said during the match commentary .
"If the (target) was 160, then I understand that the first ball you face from a bowler, you look to score a few runs because you cannot really afford a dot ball.
"But when you've got an asking rate of just over six an over, then you can - with the kind of adaptability that you normally show - give yourself the opportunity to see what the bowler is doing.
"If you go straight away for a drive on the up and you've not really looked at what the pitch is doing, or what the bowler is getting out of the pitch, you're going to be in trouble.
"And that is what happened.
"It wouldn't say it was a lack of respect, but, maybe, just a touch of over-confidence."
Gavaskar's comments about driving on the up was no doubt in reference to star batsman Virat Kohli, who aimed a booming cover drive at the very first ball from leg-spinner Ish Sodhi and edged behind for 23.
Kohli was one of four members of India's top five who were dismissed playing attacking shots against the Kiwi slow bowlers - three of whom posted only single figure scores - as India slumped to a record low total.
But Gavaskar said it's a loss India can recover from, starting with their vital match against arch-rivals Pakistan on Saturday that now looms as a must-win game for the home side.
"It's a setback, but it's not something India can't come back from. But they'll have to play much, much better than what they did in Nagpur."
