India vs New Zealand: India never recovered from Pakistan loss, say former cricketers

Ex-Pakistani cricketers feel India's crushing loss to New Zealand had a lot to do with the psychological blow they were dealt when Pakistan defeated the Men in Blue last Sunday. 

Speaking on Geo News' cricket special programme Jashn-e-Cricket, Pakistani cricketer Sohail Tanvir advised Indian cricketers to refrain from making tall claims. 

Citing Hardik Pandya's earlier statement in which he had remarked on India's potent bench strength, saying that the country can pick "two more teams and win any competition in the world". 

He said India had failed to recover from the loss Pakistan had inflicted on it. Tanvir said the fault lay in the Indian cricketers themselves, who before the competition even begin, thought the World Cup was theirs. 

Former fast bowler Sikander Bakht also said India were under pressure right from the word go, adding that their media is to blame for the below-par performance of the cricketers. 

Former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq said he would agree 50-50 with Bakht. Inzi said the real reason India lost its opening game was due to the psychological blow it had received at the hands of Pakistan in its first game. 

New Zealand defeated India by 8 wickets Sunday to score their maiden victory of the ICC T20 World Cup 2021. The clash was an important one for both sides, each having lost to Pakistan in earlier matches. 

New Zealand pacers Trent Boult and Tim Southee never let the Indian batsmen settle at the Dubai pitch, with the former taking three wickets while the latter took a single one. 

India lost KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli earlier on. Jadeja scored the highest runs in the Indian innings, 26, as the others toppled like a house of cards and failed to make a mark. 

India could only manage 110 runs from their innings. New Zealand lost openers Martin Guptill and Daryl Mitchell before Kane Willaimson and Conway saw the Black Caps through to their first victory.