The skipper of the Indian cricket team, Rohit Sharma has put all the blame on the bowlers for losing the semi-final match against England in the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 but many former cricketers including Virender Sehwag are not in agreement with him in this regard.
The match was played yesterday at Adelaide Oval and after winning the toss, England put India to bat first which was certainly a correct decision as Indian opener KL Rahul departed early and Rohit Sharma followed him soon. Suryakumar Yadav also got out early and it was Virat Kohli (50) and Hardik Pandya (63) who ensured that their team posted a competitive total of 168/6 on the score board. However, England openers Jos Buttler (80*) and Alex Hales (86*) tore apart the Indian bowling and achieved the target in just 16 overs with 10 wickets in hand.
In the post-match presentation, Rohit Sharma expressed his disappointment over the manner in which the Indian team played. He said that he feels Indian batters batted pretty well towards the end to put up that score but they were not good enough with the ball because it was not that type of pitch where the target can be chased in just 16 overs. He further says that it is all about handling the pressure in a good manner when it comes to knockout stage and it depends on individuals because it can’t be taught to everyone. Rohit gives the example of IPL and says that when Indian cricketers play in the knock out stages of IPL, they handle pressure well despite the fact that they are high pressure matches. He once again said that they were not good with the ball but also praised English openers for their superb game.
The former Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag doesn’t agree with what Rohit Sharma has said. Viru says that if the top order is scoring 82 runs in 12 overs and then they are expecting the other batters to come and score 100 runs in remaining 8 overs by playing fearless cricket, it is too much to ask for.
Team India scored 77/3 in 12 overs as Indian batters were not able to accelerate against the English bowling attack. Sehwag further says that it’s true the average score of Adelaide Oval is 150-160 and the Indian side scored more than that but on any given day if a batsman gets set on the wicket then average score doesn’t matter and this is something we have seen many times whether at Wankhde, Kotla or in Chennai as well. Viru Paaji very strongly felt that yesterday’s match would not have been won after scoring 150-160.
Virender Sehwag further talked about New Zealand-Australia match in which the Kiwis scored 200 runs and said that the Kiwis played with a certain approach in the match against Australia but they were not able to do it in the semi-final because of which they lost the match. Sehwag further said that he doesn’t agree if the Indian team felt that their score was above par but their bowling was the reason behind their defeat because in his opinion, India lost the match in the first 10 overs when Indian batters failed in giving a good start which was expected from them.
Do you agree with Virender Sehwag? Do let us know.
