It’s all over India and Indian fans in the T20 World Cup. A billion hearts were broken as India lost to England tonight in the semifinal. The lack of intent, poor start from the openers and clueless bowling from the bowlers resulted in India’s humiliating loss by 10 wickets. Now, England will take on Pakistan in the final this Sunday.
Once again, India failed to get a start from its openers as KL Rahul got out in the second over itself. Later, Kohli (50) and Rohit Sharma (27) tried to settle the innings but they couldn’t increase the run rate. While trying to hit hard, Rohit got out. In-form Surya Kumar Yadav also went back to the pavilion without making any impact. Kohli and Hardik made a partnership of 61 runs for the fourth wicket. Especially, Hardik played a spectacular knock (63* off 33 balls) in the death overs. With his help, India managed to score 168/6 in 20 overs.
England came with all guns blazing while chasing this moderate total. Openers Alex Hales (86* off 47 balls) and Jos Buttler (80* off 49 balls) started smacking the Indian bowlers right from the first over. Indian bowlers were clueless and weren’t able to break this partnership. Especially, Alex Hales played a blinder and scored a half-century in no time. After the half-point, Buttler started hitting hard. Both of them helped England in scoring 170/0 in just 16 overs.
It is high time for the BCCI to consider playing different players for different formats. That will only help Indian cricket in a longer run.
