Team India were left shocked as they were completely outplayed by England in the second semi-final of the 20-20 World Cup 2022 on Thursday. The ‘Men-in-blue’ were blown away by the England batters, Jos Buttler and Alex Hales, who chased down the target of 169 with 10 wickets to spare. Following India’s humiliating loss, former Indian cricketer Ajay Jadeja was critical of Rohit Sharma’s tenure as Indian captain.
Jadeja was unhappy with Rohit Sharma not being with the T20I team on several tours leading up to the World Cup. He lashed out at the Indian captain for missing tours consistently.
“Main ek baat bolunga jo chubhegi agar Rohit Sharma sunenge, agar team banaani hai kisi captain ko, toh usko saare saal team ke saath rehna padta hai. Poore saal me Rohit Sharma kitne daure pe rahe? Ye hindsight me nahi keh raha, ye main pehle bhi bola hu. Aapne team banani hai, aur aap saath nahi rehte. Coach bhi New Zealand nahi jaa rahe. (J would say one thing which might hurt Rohit Sharma. If you have to make a team as captain, you have to stick with the side for the entire year. How many series did Rohit Sharma play this year? I’m not saying this in hindsight, I’ve been saying this since before. Even in New Zealand, the coach isn’t travelling),” Jadeja said on Cricbuzz.
Apart from his captaincy, Rohit also didn’t have a memorable World Cup with the bat, scoring only 116 runs in six innings at a disappointing average of 19.33. He could manage only one fifty-plus against the Netherlands.
“Ghar ka ek hi buzurg hona chahiye, saat buzurg honge toh bhi dikkat hai. (There should only be one leader in the team. If there are 7, it would be difficult).” the former India player further said.
India had different captains on different tours in the lead-up to the World Cup. Rishabh Pant led the side in the five-match T20I series against South Africa in June, while Hardik Pandya captained India against Ireland.
Coming back to the match, India could only manage to score 168/6 in their allotted 20 overs. Hardik Pandya (63 off33) and Virat Kohli (50 off 40) scored half-centuries in India’s innings. In reply to India’s total, England openers launched an all-out attack on the Indian bowling and gave them no respite.
They comfortably chased down the target with four overs to spare as Buttler remained unbeaten on 80 off 49 balls and Hales remained unbeaten on 86 off 47 balls. England will now face Pakistan in the final of the 20-20 World Cup on 13th November at Melbourne Cricket Ground.
