West Indies knock India out of the World T20 2016

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The beautiful Mumbai crowd was in expecting an India victory and would have fancied their chances of clicking selfies with the Indian players after the win. They were all taking pictures during the game and realized selfies are better than ever before with the OPPO F1 Selfie Expert. There were a lot of celebrity fans at the stadium as was Sudhir Gautam, better known as the Sachin Tendulkar fan, fans not just clicked their pictures but also asked them to pose for selfies during the match and saved some special moments with the most passionate and iconic cricket followers.

The people had turned up at the iconic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai with memories of the MS Dhoni six that sailed through into the stands and saw the Indian team lift the World Cup trophy after 28 years. That was back in 2011 but this being a semi-final meant a win here and the team would be a step away from the silverware. But fate had something else in store for all those at the stadium and more than a billion who were watching it on television. Indian hearts were shattered as Andre Russell hit Virat Kohli for a huge six to wrap up the game for his team in the last over.

More than a few crucial moments in the game went against the home team- first Dhoni lost the toss and was visibly taken a back since it was an important toss and the team batting second not just had the advantage of knowing what the target was, but the surface would ease out as well. The dew factor that played a huge role and ruled out any impact the Indian spinner would have on the game. Then of course Lendl Simmons who was riding on some superb luck, taking nothing away from his knock that saw a combination of some sensible batting and serious hitting but it isn’t every day that a batsman survives twice being caught off no-balls. First it was Ravichandran Ashwin who had him caught by Jasprit Bumrah who pulled off a brilliant catch at backward point, but the umpires checked if the bowler had overstepped and it turned out that he had. Ashwin rarely crosses the popping crease but he did on this occasion.

Hardik Pandya who had a poor game with the ball bowled a full toss to Simmons and while he could dispatch it anywhere he hit it straight to Ashwin at covers, as the Indians celebrated the wicket the on-field umpire once again turned to the TV umpire and replays showed Pandya’s foot landed beyond the line as well. It was a make or break moment in the game, a wicket there would have shifted the momentum and no matter who comes in to bat definitely needs a few deliveries to settle and that would have given India an edge in the run rate. That was not all, Simmons’ pot of luck hadn’t exhausted.

He once again hit the ball in the air, it looked like it would cross over for a six but then Jadeja appeared at the boundary and caught the ball. He was not able to maintain his balance and so threw it to Virat Kohli before jumping on the other side. It was referred and for a change it wasn’t a no ball, but replays showed that while he was in contact with the ball Jadeja had touched the boundary ropes and thus it was a six.

Apart from the Simmons factor, credit must go to Johnson Charles for the way he batted, balanced and paced his knock. India had Gayle early and thus felt as if the job was done, but he stood there, took his time to get his eye in and then played some mighty shots. After having scored just 16 in the first 19 balls he reached his half-century in just 30 balls and that is just enough to show the power of his counterattack. Kohli the man who batted brilliantly to take his team to 192, was handed over the ball by the Indian skipper and he fetched Charles on the very first ball.

Credit should also go to Andre Russell as well, who stayed calm, targeted the right bowlers and absolutely nullified India’s chances of making a comeback after that wicket. His 20-ball 43 that saw him smash three boundaries and four sixes made sure West Indies was the team that flies to Kolkata for the final.

Having been asked to bat first India with a changed lineup looked more stable since Ajinkya Rahane was brought in place of Shikhar Dhawan who had failed right through the tournament and an early wicket meant the middle order and especially Kohli had a lot of pressure on him. Rahane and Rohit Sharma gave India a stable start but Rohit as he started to look in ominous touch was picked up by Samuel Badree. Rahane and Kohli put up a 60 odd runs partnership and once again the onus was on running harder and not relying completely on the big shots. After Rahane got out skipper Dhoni walked in and we saw Kohli and him run like they were sprinters. There were hardly any singles unless of course the ball was hit too hard to the fielder and everything that went to the outfield added two runs to the Indian total.

Virat was once again magnificent or should I say brilliant or unstoppable well adjectives can hardly define this man anymore. His 89 runs came off just 47 balls. He picked the gaps beautifully, knew where the fielders were, put just the right power behind the shots, placed it to perfection and beat the bowlers and fielders in his mind even before hitting the shot.

The entire Indian team and fans were dejected after the game, it was not just the ball game that they had lost. West Indies, well they will now definitely go all guns blazing and will look to grab their second World T20 title at the Eden Gardens on Sunday.

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