Home
India failed to break their knockout jinx at the big stage as the Men in Blue suffered a shocking 10-wicket loss to England in the T20 World Cup semi-final at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday (November 10).
Despite Hardik's 63 off 33, India failed to defend 169 as Jos Buttler (80 off 49) and Alex Hales (86 off 47) were too good to take the game away from Rohit Sharma & Co. with 24 balls to spare.
India's opener again failed to click with the bat when it mattered the most. First KL Rahul were dismissed cheaply at the score of 5 and then Rohit too took the longest walk to the pavilion after a patchy 27 off 28, giving India the slowest start possible. The lacklustre performance by the senior players, barring Virat Kohli, in the shortest format of the game has put them under strict scanner.
Meanwhile, India's coach Rahul Dravid clarified his stance on the failure and future of senior players following India's humiliating defeat in the semifinal against England.
"It's too early to talk about the future of senior players. Not the right time to talk and think about this stuff. India have enough time to build and prepare for the next World Cup. We have a couple of years to reflect on it. It's not right time to talk about this stuff (after semi-final loss)." ," Dravid said in the post match press conference.
It was one match that was decided in Powerplay as India managed only 38 runs in six overs as the archaic style of safety-first approach hurt them terribly.
In complete contrast, England's top order which looked shaky throughout the league stage, smashed 63 in their six overs. The match was won and lost then and there.
"That Hales-Buttler partnership was fantastic. They never let the momentum go and even counter attacked out spinners. Didn't allow us a chance," he added.
"England bowled pretty well and they didn't let us get away. I think we were 15-20 short at 15-over mark. Disappointed to finish in the semi-finals. Got outplayed and outclassed today. They were the better team and the scoreline showed that. I know it's disappointing to lose the semis but we will look to take the learnings, improve ourselves and go forward. I think overall we ran a pretty good campaign. Over the last year we played some good T20 cricket and we had our moments in this tournament," Rahul further added.
Bhuvneshwar and Arshdeep Singh didn't get enough swing up front and team management's fascination to play Axar Patel (0/30 in 4 overs) and Ravichandran Ashwin (0/27 in 2 overs) ahead of Yuzvendra Chahal backfired badly. The success England spinner Adil Rashid (1/20 in 4 overs) on the same track added insult to the injury.
By the time, Buttler hit Mohammed Shami (0/39 in 3 overs) down the ground for one of his three sixes, the Adelaide Oval stands wore a desolate half-empty look. And the over-throws and the dropped catch by Suryakumar Yadav typified a day when everything that could go wrong went wrong for India.
This Indian team never had all its bases covered and paid the price.
