'Rohit Sharma, Rahul Dravid wanted to change Indian cricket but...': Nasser Hussain on T20 World Cup results

What surprised fans and experts alike was not India's 10-wicket loss to England in the T20 World Cup semi-final but the way their top-order approached the game after being asked to bat first. It was exactly the opposite of what captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid were advocating ever since they took charge of Team India following the Super 12 stage exit from the tournament last year. India's top three Rohit, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli didn't show enough courage in the first 10 overs which cost them dearly. The same method had worked in Melbourne and Perth where there was a lot of bounce and movement up front, and openers of the side needed to ensure the side gets to about 160 but it was never going to be enough on a track like Adelaide. England openers Jos Buttler and Alex Hales showed that with their record unbroken stand.

Former England captain Nasser Hussain said Rohit and Dravid did manage to change the mindset in bilaterals but the moment it came to an ICC knockout, they fell back to their old conservative style of batting. "I had even asked Ravi Shastri, who was the coach of that team (in the last T20 World Cup) and he said ‘we played pretty timid cricket' with the bat and that's got to change. Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid came to change that, and they did it in bilaterals, they did it against England. Suryakumar Yadav smashed it around Trent Bridge, got a brilliant 115 (117 off 55). But then, you've got to take it into a game, where you know that if you lose, the sort of criticism you are going to get. The first time they took that into a knockout game, they slid back into their old style of being 66 for 2 in 10 overs," Hussain said on Sky Sports.

Hussain said India need a captain like Eoin Morgan, who would set them free in T20 cricket.

“India is still a massive force. You look at their team on paper. You look at the players they could've picked. It's a bit like England. There were a couple of blows like most sides had, like Jasprit Bumrah and Jadeja being injured. But, when it comes to knockout games, the approach needs to change. There's talk about younger guns coming through but it's not the players, but the mindset.

"They need an Eoin Morgan-type character to go in there and say play carefree cricket. 20 overs, go and smash it as much as you can for 20 overs. Play like you play in the IPL and smash it. Do it for India and don't worry about the noise. Shut out the noise and we'll back if you are bowled out for 120,” he stressed.