Former India cricketer Ajay Jadeja made an explosive statement on the Indian team's captain Rohit Sharma after the Men in Blue's humiliating ouster from the T20 World Cup 2022 as they lost the semifinal in Adelaide to England by 10 wickets.
Batting first after losing the toss, Hardik Pandya’s crisp 63 and Virat Kohli’s 50 helped India to 168/6 in 20 overs. In reply, Jos Buttler with 80* and Alex Hales with 86* took England home in just 16 overs and booked their tickets for the final against Pakistan in Melbourne on November 13.
India's skipper Rohit Sharma had a forgettable tournament in Australia, registering only one fifty and scoring only 116 runs in six innings at a disappointing average of 19.33. captaincy decisions during the semi-final of the tournament were also questioned by experts, and former Indian cricketer Ajay Jadeja reviewed his captaincy tenure in T20Is thus far.
“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 bani hai, aur aap saath nahi rehte. Coach bhi New Zealand nahi jaa rahe. (I 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.
He pointed out to the several captains India tried in the last year in T20Is in different bilateral series with Rishabh Pant captaining against South Africa, and Hardik Pandya captaining against Ireland.
“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 added.
There will be a lot to dissect from India’s loss to England in the semi-final, but the Men in Blue will fly to New Zealand for 3 T20Is and 3 ODIs in which Hardik Pandya will captain in T20Is and Shikhar Dhawan in ODIs, with Rohit, Virat and Rahul requesting time off.
(Cricbuzz inputs)
