India fans will be disappointed, but you’ve got to give credit where it’s due.
England outplayed India in all departments. They bowled and batted exceptionally well to move onto the final and stamp their authority on the tournament.
168 never felt like enough. It was a par score, but India would have to bowl incredibly well to win it from there.
I thought Alex Hales was fantastic and it’s good to see someone get a second chance.
We live in a very unforgiving world and it’s heartening to see that we still treat people as humans who are fallible, and give them a dignified way back. Boy, has he come back.
Hales deserves a lot of credit for the way he took pressure off Jos Buttler in that innings and allowed Jos to settle in.
Everyone knows how dangerous Jos can be when he gets through the first seven or eight overs. It takes him time, but once he gets settled in, he takes the game away from you.
I have to give credit to the England spinners too, Adil Rashid and Liam Livingstone.
Rashid has bowled very well in this T20 World Cup and he was very brave with the way he bowled in the semi-final. He varied his pace exceptionally well and he tried to toss it up and bowl fuller, which is the way to go in Adelaide with those long boundaries.
Honestly, I don’t think there’s anything India could have done differently.
You need a bit of luck to go your way. Hales edged a couple past the keeper, you hope one of them goes to the keeper and the momentum shifts back your way.
That moment never came India’s way simply because England outplayed them.
This is a fairly young India team, outside of a few players, perhaps Ravichandran Ashwin and Dinesh Karthik.
There’s certainly room for youngsters now. There are a few gaps to fill in T20 cricket as far as finishers are concerned and they may have to look to the future in that sense.
I’d love to see Sanju Samson and Rahul Tripathi in this side. They are both very exciting, very good young players.
On the bowling side, I’d like to see Umran Malik and Deepak Hooda get an opportunity.
That said I don’t think there will be too many changes in personnel for the 2023 Cricket World Cup on home soil.
A lot of people talk about a mental block with India and these ICC events, but I don’t buy it. Most of them play IPL which is one of the best tournaments in the world.
They are used to high-pressure situations, they aren’t novices. On these big matchdays India just haven’t turned up like they turn up in bilateral series or individually in the IPL.
You can delve deep into it but I don’t think it will account for much. England just played much better cricket than India and handled the pressure.
Content courtesy: ICC Business Corporation FZ LLC 2020 via Online Media Zone.
