The way India failed to chase the target set by England in a vital match of World Cup 2019, raised many eyebrows. Virat Kohli, the captain of Indian national cricket team after loss talked about the pitch, toss and the chase.
The Track
Kohli after losing to England by 31 runs, said he found it strange how the match was being played on flat despite the ground having short boundaries. He admitted that the toss was vital especially because of the ground size. He added that this was the first time they were experiencing something like this in an international match. “It’s the first time we are experiencing this. If batsmen are able to reverse sweep, sweep you for a six on a 59m boundary you can’t do much as a spinner,” he added.
The Chase
Kohli mentioned that he would have liked to bat first but he had enough confidence on the team’s chasing ability. England, in a must-win match batting first set a mammoth target of 337 for the loss of seven wickets. Indian bowlers should be applauded for the effort because the way England began 400 seemed to be on the cards. While chasing India lost a quick wicket after which Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma tried to bring stability and build innings.
But post the dismissal of both of them, Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya tried to accelerate the run rate. But after the duo was gone, MS Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav were visibly struggling and the asking rate was increasing. Speaking about the same, the skipper said, “We had a decent chance when Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya were in there to strike a few and get closer to the target and trigger panic in their dressing room but England kept taking regular wickets.”
He explained that it is important to talk to the men in question during the chase, but didn’t forget to applaud the English bowling. “I think MS was trying really hard to get the boundary but it wasn’t coming off. They bowled in good areas and the ball was stopping, hence it was difficult to bat towards the end.”
Also read: List of ICC cricket world cup winners of all time
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