ICC Men's T20 World Cup Dubai Namibia 132-8 (20 runs); Wiese 26 (25); Jadeja 3--16, Ashwin 3-20 India 136-1 (15.2 innings): Rohit 56 (37) and Rahul 54 (36) India won with nine wickets Scorecard & Tables
Ravi Shastri, India's coach, stated that his players are physically and mentally exhausted after the disappointing T20 World Cup campaign. India won nine wickets against Namibia to end their miserable campaign.
India was second at 133, Rohit Sharma and KL Rohul each making half-centuries.
Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravichandran Ashwin were the winners of 3-16 and 3-20 respectively in Namibia's 132-8.
After losing to Pakistan and New Zealand in the first two games, India was unable to reach semis.
This tournament concluded a busy 11 months for India, which has witnessed a historic Test win in Australia, eight Tests against England and the World Test Championship finals against New Zealand. It also saw white-ball series against England as well as Sri Lanka and England.
After arriving in England in June, their players spent nearly six months in bubbles. This was before the Indian Premier League (IPL), which was held in the United Arab Emirates from 19 September to 15 October. Their first World Cup game took place on 24 October.
Rahul Dravid will replace Shastri after five years of service.
"I feel mentally depleted, but that is what I expected at my age. But these guys are mentally and physically exhausted."
"They've spent six months in bubble, and we would have liked to see a wider gap between the IPL & the World Cup.
"It's when the big games arrive and the pressure hits you that you don't feel as alert as you should.
"It's not an excuse for us to accept defeat, we don't fear losing. You will lose games if you try to win, but we did not attempt to win here because the x-factor wasn't there.
It is unlikely that a rest will be forthcoming soon as India plays three Twenty20s against New Zealand and two Tests from 17 November. The series against South Africa and West Indies, which total five Tests and six ODIs, and 10 T20s, are scheduled before the middle March.
New Zealand's victory over Afghanistan on Sunday secured their passage to the fourth round and eliminated India.
India lost their opening two games to India, leaving them with three remaining games to win. They did this in a ruthless manner, but needed more results.
India's last victory in an ICC event was in 2013 Champions Trophy.
Shastri stated that his India team will be remembered as "one the greatest teams in the history" and that this early exit "takes no away from a fantastic side".
Virat Kohli was India's last captain in this format. Rohit, 33, hinted that he would take over at the toss.
Rohit will decide the personnel and make-up of his team moving forward. Ashwin impressed after joining the team for three wins.
Rohit was at his most belligerent, hitting seven fours as well as two sixes in his 37 ball 56 that broke the back of India's chase.
KL Rahul finished the race unbeaten with 54 runs, while Suryakumar Yadav made 25 not out. They then had an unbroken 50, which saw India return home with just 30 balls.
"It's not a game of margins" - that's what they said
Virat Kohli, India captain: "A positive was the way we played the last three games. It's a game with margins. You can talk about just two overs of intent in each of the first two games, and it could have been very different.
"We won’t argue about the toss, because you should do both well regardless of whether you win or not." In the first two games, we were not courageous enough."
Gerhard Erasmus, Namibia captain: "Quick turnarounds have meant we haven’t been able to soak up the experience. We'll only realize how amazing our cricket was when we return.
"We can all take many positives as individuals and as a group we'll share this experience as a whole. We hope this helps us get ready for the next step.
