The Indian men's cricket team crashed out of the 2022 T20 World Cup with a 10-wicket loss to England in the second semi-final on Thursday at the Adelaide Oval.
Alex Hales and Jos Buttler stayed unbeaten on scores in the 80s as the team chased down India's 168/6 with four overs to spare.
It was an emotional loss for the Indian team who had emerged favourites in the tournament, after qualifying for the semis as the only team to win four matches in the Super 12 stage of the tournament. This was also Rohit Sharma's first ICC tournament as India's skipper, and after the loss, the broadcaster's cameras caught the Indian skipper in an emotional moment in the dugout.
While speaking at the post-match presentation a little while later, Rohit Sharma said he felt the team's performance with the ball let them down and credited the opening pair of Jos Buttler and Alex Hales for being clinical with their chase.
Hales hit 86 not out off 47 balls while Buttler smacked an unbeaten 80 off 49 balls, hitting ten sixes and 13 fours collectively.
"It's pretty disappointing how we turned up today. I thought we still batted pretty well at the back end to get to that score, but we were not good enough with the ball. It was definitely not a wicket where a team can come and chase it down in 16 overs. With the ball we didn't turn up today."
"The way we started with the ball was not ideal. We were a little nervy, but you have to give credit to the openers as well. They played really well. When Bhuvi bowled the first over it swung today, but not from the right areas," said a disappointed Rohit in the post-match presentation ceremony.
Rohit opined that India wanted to keep things tight with the ball and avoid England from scoring in short square areas. But that didn't happen as Hales and Buttler never let the bowlers settle down at all, along with the fielding being more than sloppy in a crunch match.
"We wanted to keep it tight, not give room, because square of the wicket was an area we were aware of - that's where the runs came today. If we keep it tight and the batsman still score runs, we'll take it. But we didn't do that today. In the game against Bangladesh it was tricky as well, but I thought we held our nerve that day, executed well," he added.
The ten-wicket thrashing also meant that India's hoodoo in the knockout matches of global tournaments was extended, so as a winless nine-year run in World Cups.
"When it comes to knockout stages, it's all about handling the pressure. Depends on the individual as well. You can't teach anyone to handle pressure. When these guys play the playoffs in the IPL and all that, those are high-pressure games, and they're able to handle it," signed off Rohit.
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