#2 The two big wickets, middle order not stepping up
While India's success in the tournament stemmed from steady opening partnerships from Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan, that wasn't to be on the big day. Mohammad Amir breathed fire at The Oval and after taking two balls across Rohit, brought one back into him to trap him in front off the third ball of the innings.
With Rohit dismissed early, India badly needed Kohli and Dhawan to carry on since the middle-order had barely been tested in the tournament. But the Indian skipper looked lost against a confident Amir.
The Pakistani seamer forced an outside edge in his very next over but Azhar Ali put down a sitter. Unfortunately, the skipper could not take advantage of it as he departed the next ball, edging Amir to point to reduce India to 6/2. India still had a scary looking middle-order but they wilted under pressure after being exposed early in the innings.
Follow IPL Auction 2025 Live Updates, News & Biddings at Sportskeeda. Get the fastest updates on Mega-Auction and cricket news