India vs New Zealand: Bumrah blames 'dew pressure' for Virat Kohli's team's batting failure

India are facing a shock exit from the Super 12 stage at the ongoing T20 World Cup in the UAE after falling to their second straight defeat, this time at the hands of bogey team New Zealand. Virat Kohli's men suffered yet another humiliating eight wicket loss after the Black Caps restricted them to a paltry 110/8 in their 20 overs.

The Men in Blue were coming into the game on the back of a humbling 10-wicket loss against Pakistan in their opening game, and were expected to come out firing on all cylinders to keep their hopes of making the semifinals alive. In what was a contrast to expectations, they failed to turn up with bat or ball in what was a must win game.

India's leading fast bowler, Jasprit Bumrah, has blamed the changing pitch conditions owing to dew for the team's poor batting performance. It is well known that, chasing a total is the way to go, and India lost the toss in both the games before being put into bat first.

The Mumbai Indians cricketer indicated that the batsmen were told to ensure a big total to give the bowlers a cushion going into the second innings. Bumrah feels the added pressure to put up a big total saw the batsmen make mistakes while being forced to play attacking shots.

"We realised that once you lose the toss, the wicket changes in the second innings," Jasprit Bumrah said, as quoted on ESPN CricInfo. "It was a discussion that we wanted to give the cushion to the bowlers. In doing that, we played a lot of attacking shots that didn't come off today."

India has hit just six sixes in 40 overs and have ended both the powerplays at 36 for 3 and 35 for 2. Kolhi's famed batting lineup also failed to hit a single boundary in 70 deliveries - from the end of the power play until the start of the 17th over - against New Zealand for only the third time in T20I's.

India's fate in the World Cup is now out of their hands. Even if Kohli's team record crushing victories over Scotland, Namibia and Afghanistan, they still have to hope New Zealand lose one of their games before the conclusion of the Super 12's.