London, June 13: Defending champions India will need to improve all aspects of their game following their upset loss to West Indies on Friday if they are to get past the second round of the Twenty20 World Cup.
India meet England at Lord`s on Sunday evening in their second Super Eight match before playing a confident South Africa side at Trent Bridge in Nottingham on Tuesday.
Yuvraj Singh with 67 was their only top-order batsman to succeed in a total of 153 for seven and the bowlers were unable to subdue Dwayne Bravo (66 not out) and Shivnarine Chanderpaul (18 not out) in the latter stages of the innings.
The fielding was sound but unspectacular apart from one splendid diving stop on the boundary by Suresh Raina.
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said India had let Bravo and West Indies get away in the middle overs.
“I think that was a crucial point,” he told a news conference. “They were able to raise the rate to close to 10 runs an over.”
“We still have two more games and nothing much changes, so we are concentrating on the next game. In this format we have seen some of the best sides lose so we are not really worried too much.”
“We will need to perform in the next game but even in the last World Cup, after every game we were in that situation. We played some of the toughest teams and went through to the final and won the Cup, so it`s not like we can`t do it again.”
“You really have to be at your best because some of the teams play really good cricket and you don`t want to take chances.”
–Agencies