Adam Gilchrist urges fans to not be harsh after Team India’s semi-final exit

Prior to the 2019 edition of the World Cup, India was being deemed as one of the strong contenders to win the championship. Virat Kohli & Co were simply exceptional in the league stage of the mega event, having won seven out of their nine matches and finished atop the table with 15 points. Their only defeat came against Eoin Morgan’s England.

One of their games against New Zealand at the Trent Bridge in Nottingham got abandoned due to rain. However, the Men in Blue got to meet the Black Caps in the semi-final at the Old Trafford in Manchester. Nevertheless, Kohli’s men had to return empty-handed as the Kane Williamson-captained Kiwis won the match by 18 runs.

New Zealand set a target of 240 courtesy Williamson and Ross Taylor’s half-centuries. Thereafter, Matt Henry ripped apart the Indian top order batting with the wickets of KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma and Dinesh Karthik. Trent Boult removed Virat Kohli to leave India in the shambles. Mitchell Santner got rid of Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya to pile more agony to the Indian team.

MS Dhoni (50) and Ravindra Jadeja (77) tried their hearts out with a 116 run stand. Both kept India alive and took the game deep. Even after Boult nipped out Jadeja, Dhoni’s presence in the middle gave the Men in Blue hopes of a comeback. Unfortunately, Martin Guptill pulled off a direct-hit and ran Dhoni out in the penultimate over to dash India’s hopes for a last time in the World Cup. It was India’s second consecutive semi-final defeat after the one in 2015.

Gilly says World Cups are not easy to win

Meanwhile, Adam Gilchrist, the former Australian cricketer, asked the Indian supporters to not be too harsh on the players. Rather, he wants them to appreciate the kind of cricket they played. The legendary cricketer took to Twitter and wrote, “Don’t be too harsh on your @BCCI team Indian fans. Just shows World Cups aren’t easy to win. A lot has to go right and any slip-ups can be punished. They are a top team and play a form of cricket that is really cool to watch. #CWC19,” Here

Here is Gilchrist’s tweet

Don’t be too harsh on your @BCCI team Indian fans. Just shows World Cup’s aren’t easy to win. A lot has to go right and any slip ups can be punished. They are a top team and play a form of cricket that is really cool to watch. #CWC19

— Adam Gilchrist (@gilly381) July 11, 2019