Sachin Tendulkar has on Monday (November 1) described India’s massive loss to New Zealand in their last game in the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 as one of those matches where “nothing worked out even if you try” on the day.
Indian cricket team’s hopes for the semi-finals of the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2021 were massively dented by their crushing 8-wicket defeat against New Zealand on Sunday, October 31, in Dubai.
Well now, India will not only have to win their all remaining games but also hope for results to go their way in order to progress to the semi-final of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2021 and Tendulkar hopes for “something great” from the Men in Blue in the tournament.
Tendulkar told PTI, “It was a difficult day for our team but this kind of days come sometimes, when even if you try, nothing comes out. Nothing much to talk about honestly. I just hope in the coming days, our team will show something great in this tournament.”
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He further added, “I felt India was playing a catching-up game, the way New Zealand were dominating, it was a difficult time for our batters because they could not get those easy singles which forced them to play big shots. I don’t think there was that penetration in our bowling.”
Meanwhile, Master Blaster heaped praise on the New Zealand captain Kane Williamson for his planning against India, but still, he felt his planning must be very good.
He explained, “From ball one, his field settings and bowling changes were top-notch. I felt his planning must be very good. In the first 6 overs, we were 35/2. In that, 20 runs came from five overs and one over from Adam Milne yielded 15 runs. For me, the crucial phase of the game was after six to 10th overs.
There were 24 balls there, we scored 13 runs and lost one wicket. According to me, that was a critical phase in which we missed out on capitalizing. Because I know if you lose wickets quickly, then batters think of making partnerships. But those easy singles were not available and that forced our batters to play big shots. Rohit was out while doing that, Virat was out like that.”
Tendulkar also pointed out another smart move from Williamson against Rishabh Pant, saying: “Pant came and the fast bowlers came immediately and when the spin attack came, immediately the end (of spin bowling) was changed. Again a smart move.”
He continued, “I remembered the 2019 World Cup, when Mitchell Santner came to bowl to Pant, he was bowling from the longer end so that when Pant attacked towards mid-wicket, it would be towards the longest boundary of the ground. It happened the same way yesterday also.”
Tendulkar also revealed that the leg-spinners who are mixing up deliveries — googlies, topspin, flippers, and normal leg-spin — have been successful against India in the recent past.
The legendary batter added, “If I have to speak about spinners, Ish Sodhi was very effective yesterday and along with him Mitchell Santner also did bowl well. Both combined gave just 32 runs in 8 overs, and that is a very impactful performance.”
He signed off by saying, “We have to do better in these areas. When India started bowling, with the kind of small total you need to take three wickets to remain in the game. We did not concede too many runs and took one wicket (in powerplay) but it was not impactful bowling.”
(With PTI Inputs)
