Message to Team India: 'Don't go gentle, rage, rage' and make the world remember you forever

There are victories and then there are annihilations. India endured the latter in the 2022 T20 World Cup semi-finals when England romped to a comfortable 10-wicket win, giving the Men in Blue a reality check on how outdated they were in the ever-evolving world of T20 cricket. Close to two years later, the roles have reversed. This time the Englishmen were the ones who were crucified by an Indian performance that not only evoked strong emotions but also testified that Rohit Sharma and Co are a different beast now, well-equipped with the required wherewithal to kill you in your game.

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In the 2022 semi-final , England bowlers restricted India to a below-par score in Adelaide and romped to the target with all 10 wickets intact. The Three Lions didn’t just win, they defeated India in every department. They read the pitch better, bowled better, and batted other-worldly — a feature that enabled them to capture the 2022 T20 World Cup title after the 2019 ODI World Cup trophy.

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On Friday, at the Providence Stadium in Guyana, England were poor in every department as India underlined their capability of learning from the past. Jos Buttler won the toss in Guyana and despite the experts suggesting that batting second on a slow, low bouncy track was the right decision, they went ahead with the suicidal punt — possibly overcompensating for their waning powers.

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England won the World Cups by being innovative, aggressive, and taking risks. But those risks paid off because they were backed by ability. England haven’t been the same since 2022, finishing seventh in the 10-team 2023 ODI World Cup and losing most of their matches against Full-member nations in the 2024 T20 World Cup.

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In such a scenario, bowling second in Guyana was a gamble not worth taking.

In the big match, England would have been better off batting first and putting India under the scoreboard pressure when the conditions were at their best rather than trying to hunt leather in the first essay.

Nonetheless, coach Matthew Mott and Buttler felt bowling first was the right call to challenge India, and Rohit and Co picked up the gauntlet in their typical way.

India’s innings was disrupted in the middle due to a 75-minute rain break after Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant fell cheaply early on but the intent to fight fire with fire never wavered. On a pitch where the ball kept low and gripped, Rohit, who has inspired the playing style revolution by example with his carefree, selfless and explosive batting, led the charge with a match-winning knock of 57 off 39 balls and was well assisted by ‘Mr. 360 degree’ Surykumar Yadav, who scored 47 off 36. They kept the run rate close to 8.5 until the 13th over before their innings came to an end. All this amid the loss of early wickets and a rain break.

In the final three overs, the scoring rate zoomed off to 13 with Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, and Axar Patel’s blades spitting fire as England dug their own grave by not using Moeen Ali.

The game’s fate was effectively sealed then and there.

171/7 may not be the most desired total in T20 cricket but on the Providence Stadium track, it was more than enough.

“India certainly outplayed us. We let them get 20-25 runs too many,” Buttler acknowledged after the defeat. “It was a challenging surface that they played well on. They outplayed us and fully deserved the win.”

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The fact that India decided against adding too much caution to their aggression despite being reduced to 40/2 in the sixth over and rain delaying play soon after, held them in good stead. The decision to go hammer and tongs even in gruelling circumstances was not only in stark contrast to the ignominious night of 2022 but also different from the heartbreaking evening in Ahmedabad in 2023 when Rohit had once again set the tone for India with an aggressive knock, but the slowdown in the middle batted Men in Blue out of the World Cup final .

Fast forward six months and a battle-hardened India have reached the T20 World Cup final by avoiding an encore and the biggest lesson ahead of the mega summit clash on Sunday is just that. As Dylan Thomas wrote in 1947: “Do not go gentle into that good night…rage, rage against the dying of the light” and the world will remember you forever.