Guyana: Ahead of India's semi-final clash against defending champions England, former India cricketer and noted commentator Sanjay Manjrekar on Thursday made a sensational statement, criticising India captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli's innings for the Men in Blue's disastrous defeat against the Jos Buttler-led side in the 2022 World Cup semi-final at Adelaide Oval stadium in Adelaide, Australia.
India were on an unbeaten five-match streak and were the favourites to clinch the 2022 edition of the marquee event. Still, they faltered in the semi-final as the batters managed to reach 159 runs on a flat pitch against the ultra-aggressive England side.
However, England romped home in just 16 overs without losing any wickets. Where England openers Alex Hales (86 off 47 balls) and Jos Buttler (80 off 49 balls) smashed fifties at a strike rate of 182.98 and 163.27 respectively, India's two of the most experienced batters Rohit (27 off 28 balls) and Kohli (50 off 40 balls) scored at a strike rate of 96.43 and 125.00 respectively. Hardik Pandya's 63 off 33 balls in the end helped India post a respectable total.
Speaking to ESPN Cricinfo, Manjrekar stated, "They may not admit it. Both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have never confessed that they helped India lose the semi-finals."
However, he believed that a humiliating defeat forced India to change their way of batting, especially in the T20 cricket and the Indian cricket team, which is playing in the ongoing edition of the T20 World Cup, is a completely different side.
He might be saying this in terms of the approach shown by the side in the ongoing competition because five batters of India's top six are the same and only left-hand batter Shivam Dube has replaced KL Rahul in the line-up. "India is completely changed as a T20 side. That was a wake-up call for India. But this new India is a completely different India," quipped Manjrekar.
Rohit Sharma, who changed the dynamics of opening in ODI cricket during the 2023 ODI World Cup, has carried forward his ultra-aggressive approach in the T20Is, something which the overall team has adapted pretty well. Rohit amassed 191 runs at a strike rate of 159.16.
Rishabh Pant has racked up 167 runs, striking at 132.53, Suryakumar Yadav scored 149 runs at a strike rate of 139.25, and Hardik Pandya - 116 runs at a strike rate of 145.00. Notably, India played their first three games at the tricky Nassau County International Stadium in New York where teams were hardly posting 120-run totals.
The only batter, who has failed to live up to the expectations so far is Virat Kohli, but the majority of his dismissals have come while playing a big shot, which tells you his approach.
An unbeaten India once again has reached the semi-final in the 2024 T20 World Cup and is geared up to take on England, in the hope of taking revenge for their semi-final exit handed over by the same team in 2022. It would be interesting to see how Rohit Sharma and Co. go about things and whether they will be able to emerge triumphant.
