Former Indian cricketer-turned-commentator Sanjay Manjrekar expressed his disappointment with the dismissals of KL Rahul and Dinesh Karthik in the ICC World Cup semi-final between India and New Zealand on Wednesday, 10 July. Manjrekar also posted a comment on why he thought captain Virat Kohli sent Hardik Pandya ahead of MS Dhoni after India’s top-order collapse at Old Trafford in Manchester.
The Men in Blue were reduced to 24 for 4 in the first 10 overs of their chase after New Zealand posted 239/8 in their 50 overs. The Kiwis continued their innings from 211/5 in 46.1 overs, after the match had to be abandoned on Tuesday due to rain.
Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul were all dismissed for 1 inside three overs, leaving India 5 for 3. With the last ball of the opening powerplay, Jimmy Neesham produced an amazing one-handed catch down to his left to remove Dinesh Karthik for 6 off Matt Henry.
“It’s ok for Virat to get out, it’s ok for Rohit to get out, not ok for people like Rahul and Karthik to get out like this... too much time has been invested in them for limited returns,” Manjrekar tweeted.
After the dismissal of Karthik, all-rounder Hardik Pandya walked out to join Rishabh Pant at the crease. And Manjrekar ‘guessed’ why.
“Ok let me try & guess why Virat has sent Hardik ahead of Dhoni. Given a choice between attack & defence, Virat will always choose attack to get out of a tight spot. Hence Pandya ahead of Dhoni,” he wrote.
Pandya and Pant had stitched a 47-run stand for the fifth wicket when the latter was caught out by Colin de Grandhomme off a Santner delivery.
With five wickets still in hand, India then still needed 169 off 161 balls.
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