“As an Indian it is disappointing and heartbreaking”, that was the reaction of Sachin Tendulkar on India’s painful World Cup 2019 exit on Wednesday, 10th July, after their 18-runs defeat in a nail-biting semi-final against New Zealand in Manchester, England.
On Wednesday, after New Zealand managed to add more 28 runs to their total in the resumed play, India got off to a disastrous start chasing 240, as Matt Henry and Trent Boult brilliantly broke the backbone by sending back the top three- Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, and Virat Kohli within 3.1 overs with all three contributing 1-run each.
Later, Ravindra Jadeja managed to get India back on the track with his valiant knock of 77 off 59 balls, after MS Dhoni’s departure at 50 off 72, match slipped away from Men in Blue’s hands as they eventually got bowled out for 221, to ensure their ouster from the ongoing showpiece event in the UK.
After India’s painful defeat, a dejected Tendulkar said the result was disappointing but urged Indian fans to not be so critical and harsh with one failure, saying all teams have a bad day, though, the legend admitted that 240 was chase-able in Manchester, but now they have to move on from the defeat.
Tendulkar told India Today, “Sport is cruel yes sometimes it shows you those days. This was a fantastic team to go all the way and lift the trophy but there are no guarantees in sport and no retakes either. Just one of those disappointing days when you have to swallow that bitter pill.”
He continued, “But we cannot be so critical with one failure. We cannot forget that we won 7 out of 8 games (in the league stage). Yes, all the teams have bad games, England also lost. They lost to Sri Lanka. We can't be harsh on our team; it is a disappointing day but it's a bitter pill to swallow.”
Meanwhile, the batting legend said that its tough time for everyone and also believes that the Men in Blue will need some time to get over this World Cup exit.
He continued, “It's a tough time for everyone, we all have expectations and dreams. All I can say is, it's been a tough day. How bad they must be feeling in the dressing room. I fully agree that we should have chased 240. 10 out of 10 times we would have taken that. Time is the greatest healer, we just have to wait for a while, step aside a little bit, give yourself some time and then take a call.”
Tendulkar signed off by saying, “Not just for Virat (Kohli) and Rohit (Sharma), we have got 15 members in the squad along with the support staff. They have been working constantly behind the scenes. Everyone will be equally disappointed. As an Indian, it is disappointing and heartbreaking.”
(With India Today Inputs)
