Team India once again lost an opportunity to get their hands on an ICC trophy, hence adding to their unwanted streak of nine trophy-less years. Under captain Rohit Sharma, who has IPL trophies to his name as a skipper, and head coach Rahul Dravid, this Indian side was touted to bring home the Cup when they had headed to Australia for the T20 World Cup. But a crushing defeat to England in the semis ended their hopes, and what followed was a barrage of criticism, which is something that batting legend Sachin Tendulkar is not strongly in favour of as he hit back at the critics with a strong reply.
The top order was sluggish in their approach before Hardik Pandya's blazing 63 took India to 168 for six. In response, England openers Alex Hales and Jos Buttler showed no mercy to the Indian bowlers as they wrapped up the chase with a record stand in just 16 overs and 10 wickets in hand to end India's hopes of making the final, let alone have their hands on the trophy.
Speaking to ANI, Sachin admitted that it was a “disappointing” show from India, adding that 168 on Adelaide wicket was never enough.
“I know that the semi-final against England was very disappointing. Let us accept that we did not put up a good total on the board. 168 in Adelaide Oval is not great since the dimensions of the ground are entirely different and the side boundaries are really short. We were also unsuccessful in taking wickets. It was a tough game for us, a bad and disappointing defeat,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}“I know that the semi-final against England was very disappointing. Let us accept that we did not put up a good total on the board. 168 in Adelaide Oval is not great since the dimensions of the ground are entirely different and the side boundaries are really short. We were also unsuccessful in taking wickets. It was a tough game for us, a bad and disappointing defeat,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}However, he hit back at all the criticism that Team India have been facing since their T20 World Cup exit on Thursday night and rather backed the side to bounce back strongly.
“To get to that Number 1 spot, it does not happen overnight. The team has to play good cricket over a period of time and it has done that. Let us not judge our team on the basis of this performance. Players also did not want to go out and fail. In sports, these ups and downs are there. We have to be in it together,” he added.