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India's shocking exit from the ongoing T20 World Cup drew lot of backlash and flak from the legends of the game. India suffered a 10-wicket drubbing at the hands of Jos Buttler-led England in the T20 World Cup 2022's semifinals at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday which deprived them of yet another ICC tournament trophy.
The 1983's World Cup winning captain and the cricket legend Kapil Dev now has labelled the Men in Blue as 'chokers' after their elimination from the T20 World Cup. The brutal mauling on Thursday marked India's fifth knockout loss in the last six World Cups.
"I will not go into the details and slam them because these are the same players who have gotten us a lot of respect in the past but yes, we can call them chokers. That's okay. There is no denying it -- after coming so close, they choke," Kapil told ABP News.
The 1983 World Cup-winning skipper, however, said fans should not be too critical of the team's performance in the semifinals.
"I agree, India played bad cricket, but we cannot be overly critical based on just one game.
"See, now that the match is over, it is unfair that we should come down this hard on the Indian team. Yes, they did not play well and criticism is justified. But as far as today's match, all we can say is that England read the pitch better and played better cricket.
Kapil said the youngsters must come forward now and take the team to the top.
"I would say that the team needs to look ahead. It's time for the younger players to come forward and take charge." India last won an ICC tournament in 2013 when they beat England to claim the Champions Trophy.
Since then, they have qualified for the knockout stages of the 2014 T20 World Cup (final), 2015 ODI World Cup (semifinal), 2016 T20 World Cup (semifinal), 2017 Champions Trophy (final), 2019 ODI World Cup (semifinal), 2021 World Test Championship Final, the 2022 T20 World Cup (semifinal), but lost all of them.
England seemed to have saved their best for the grand stage as they reduced the semifinal to a lop-sided affair, courtesy a splendid bowling effort which they complemented with some breathtaking stroke-making.
It was Hardik Pandya (68 off 33 balls), whose fearless hitting took India to 168 for six but it was just about a par-score at the Adelaide Oval.
England captain Buttler (80 not out) set the tone with three boundaries off Bhuvneshwar Kumar's opening over but it was Hales (86 not out off) who butchered the Indian attack into submission.
The target was achieved in just 16 overs as England batting line-up clicked for the first time in the tourney and what a day it chose to brings its A game to the fore.
England will now lock horns with Pakistan in final for the ultimate title on November 13 (Sunday).
