The despondent look of Rohit Sharma in the dugout spoke volumes. The look sums up India’s 10-wicket loss against England in their ICC T20 World Cup semi-final at Adelaide Oval.
Sharma, a fine batsman in the shorter formats of the game, struggled throughout the tournament. In fact, his struggles are predated. It just amplified at the version’s biggest stage, his intent notwithstanding.
To begin with, the toss did not go their way, but England skipper Jos Buttler did not hesitate to opt for the bowl. That is the only thing that, perhaps, went India’s way.
KL Rahul showed that his getting back in form is only a mirage as he managed just five runs. It was no different for Sharma in his 28-ball 27. The struggle is written all over it.
The tale was quite familiar: India was two down under 10 overs, pinning hopes on Virat Kohli, who appeared to have regained his mojo, and the high-flying Suryakumar Yadav.
But England appeared to have learned from their four T20 series losses against India, and their recent struggles. The English did well to stifle the Indians, forcing them to go for the shots. And it was one of those moments when SKY fell on them.
A 61-run stand between Kohli and Hardik Pandya, along with the latter’s finishing touch, helped India post 168 for six. But deep down, they perhaps knew, it was not enough.
India would have fancied their chances, but the collective experience of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Shami and Ravichander Ashwin came to naught when India needed them the most.
All India needed to do was remove England’s in-form opening duo of Alex Hales and Jos Buttler – two of the most dangerous batsmen in the shorter formats – to fancy a chance.
But a collective off-day from India’s bowlers ensured Hales and Buttler hammered their rivals to reach the target in 16 overs.
“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 could come and chase it down in 16 overs. With the ball we didn’t turn up today,” Sharma summed up India’s day at Adelaide Oval where they simply failed to make use of the smaller square boundary.
BRIEF SCORES: India 168/6 (Hardik Pandya 63, Virat Kohli 50; Chris Jordan 3/43) lost to England 170/0 in 16 overs (Alex Hales 86*, Jos Buttler 80*) by 10 wickets.