"Our Middle-Order Batters...": Yuvraj Singh On What India "Lacked" In 2021 T20 World Cup

India had a disastrous campaign in the 2021 T20 World Cup, losing their first two matches against Pakistan and New Zealand and eventually getting knocked out in the group stages. It was the batting, especially, that let the team down, with the top order not surviving the Powerplay overs and the middle order eventually not being able to recover from the early blows. Former India cricketer Yuvraj Singh, who was part of the squads that won both the 2007 T20 World Cup as well as the 2011 World Cup, spoke about what the team lacked in last year's tournament that was held in the UAE.

"Our middle-order (batters) in T20 bats higher in franchise cricket. That is where we lacked in the last T20 World Cup," Yuvraj Singh told Sports18.

He also spoke about where he felt India went wrong in the 2019 World Cup, where the team lost to New Zealand in the semi-finals.

"When we won the World Cup, we all had a set position to bat. I felt 2019 World Cup; they didn't plan it well," he said.

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"They got Vijay Shankar to bat at No.4 with just 5-7 ODIs, then they replaced him with Rishabh Pant, who had played 4 ODIs. When we played the 2003 World Cup, Mohd. Kaif, (Dinesh) Mongia and I had already played 50-odd ODIs," he said.

India have not won an ICC tournament since their triumph in 2011 and have their eyes set on changing their fortune around in the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia later this year.