Team India's elimination from the T20 World Cup 2022 in the second semi-final on Thursday (November 10) after suffering a crushing 10-wicket loss against England extended the wait to win an ICC trophy.
The Indian openers KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma, as was the case for the majority of the tournament, struggled to give the team a solid start on Thursday. The latter recorded yet another score of under 10 runs (5 off 5 balls), and Sharma, who did score 27, did so after facing 28 balls.
Bowling veterans Mohammad Shami and Bhuvneshwar Kumar too failed to take a wicket in the match and gave away 64 runs in 5 overs between them.
Meanwhile, former India captain Sunil Gavaskar expects a few retirements after this humiliating loss. He also backed Hardik Pandya to lead the side in the future in the shortest format.
“Having won the Indian Premier League on his first assignment as the captain, they would have marked Hardik Pandya out as the next captain,” Gavaskar said on Star Sports.
“Hardik Pandya will definitely take over the team in the future and there will be some retirements, you never know. Players will be giving it a lot of thought.”
“There are several players in their mid-30s who will be reconsidering their position in the Indian T20I team,” he stated.
The Men in Blue scored an above-average 168/6 in 20 overs thanks to Hardik Pandya's lightning-quick 63 off just 33 balls and Virat Kohli's remarkable 50 off 40 balls.
In reply, the England openers Jos Butler (80*) and Alex Hales (86*) batted fearlessly and chased down without breaking much sweat. The team crossed the finishing line without losing a wicket and with four overs to spare.
Again, the Indian team was eliminated from an ICC tournament despite Kohli's outstanding performance with the bat.
But apart from the star batter, none of the seasoned players including the likes of Rohit Sharma, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Dinesh Karthik could make an impact in the tournament.
(PTI AND STAR SPORTS INPUTS)
