The hearts of the Indian Cricket fans sunk when their side was knocked out from the semi-finals of the ICC T20 World Cup on Thursday. A substandard performance from India and batting carnage from the England openers resulted in a humbling 10-wicket defeat for the Men in Blue. Though fans excoriated and trolled the Indian team, the skipper Rohit Sharma in particular was lambasted for his post-match comments about the team’s performance.
Also Read: India’s Semi-Final Jinx Is Well and Truly Alive
On being asked about what went wrong for India, captain Rohit heaped the blame on the bowlers. He mentioned that while the batting in the early stages was not up to the mark, they did well to get a respective total on the board. He further said that it was the bowling effort that hampered their hopes to make it to the final.
“It’s pretty disappointing how we turned up today. I thought we still batted pretty well at the back end to get to that score, but we were not good enough with the ball. It was definitely not a wicket where a team can come and chase it down in 16 overs. With the ball we didn’t turn up today," Rohit said in the post-match interview.
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Fans were not pleased with Rohit’s comments since they believed the batting was equally unsatisfactory. Many felt that the openers Rohit and KL Rahul failed to get going and piled up pressure on the batters to follow. Many users also highlighted the openers’ dismal run of form in the tournament, especially against big teams.
Here are some of the reactions from the furious fans:
One user said that the Indian skipper was correct about India’s bowlers, but he was wrong in throwing them under the bus.
Rohit was right about India's bowlers but also wrong to throw them under the bus. And right through the tournament, he tried to bat like a proper T20 opener but struggled to make it happen. In all, a strange and sad World Cup for him.— Karthik Krishnaswamy (@the_kk) November 10, 2022
Another fan said that the bowlers did have an off day, but that may happen, especially when conditions are unfavourable. He further added that the poor batting in the powerplay by the openers was also a big reason for the loss.
Bowlers this match were off colour but that can happen specially when we only have bowlers who are heavily reliant on swing and if conditions don't help but it no way justify how badly our PP and top order was throughout the tournament, cand blame all on bowlers— Prasanth.K.Alex (@hty89076) November 11, 2022
One user opined that BCCI must make bold decisions after the World Cup. The user added that Rohit Sharma should be dropped from captaincy and Hardik Pandya should lead the side.
Bcci has to make some bold decisions after this Worldcup 1) Drop Kl Rahul as an opener bring in Sanju samson or Ishan kishan 2) Drop Rohit sharma as A captain 3)Hardik pandya as a new Captain.
What are your suggestion?
— Rishabh pant fans club (@rishabpantclub) November 10, 2022
The difference in the match was the opening pair in the semi-final according to one user. “Rahul and Rohit and Rahul were dismal while Butler and Halesturned it on in the match. That made the difference and Rohit blames the bowlers,” the fan said.
Nasser Hussain rightly said Indian team was timid. He compared the Indian openers to England openers. Rahul and Rohit were disastrous while Butler and Hales expressed with the bat beautifully. That made the difference and Rohit blames the bowlers— N Jagannath Das_TT (@dassport_TT) November 11, 2022
After Buttler won the toss and elected to bowl first, India was on the back foot for much of their innings. Rahul was out for a run-a-ball five in the second over, and Rohit could only manage 27 from 28. Star men Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya’s late push helped India reach 168/6.
Also Read: ‘Devastated, Gutted, Hurt’: Hardik Pandya After India’s T20 World Cup Exit
However, the score was not enough to contain the carnage of the England openers who clobbered the Indian bowlers and aced the chase with more than four overs to spare. Buttler and his men will now clash against Pakistan in the final of the ICC T20 World Cup on Sunday.
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