World Cup 2019: Harsha Bhogle feels India did not try enough to win against England

A win against England would have confirmed India’s semi-final berth and could have meant that the team went unbeaten through the league stages. England was completely looking off-colour, meaning that India was the clear favourites against them. However, all these stats remained outside the field as England fought tooth and nail to defeat India by 31 runs.

England remained clinical throughout the game overpowering India in every department. Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes helped their team to post a solid total before the bowling attack led by Chris Woakes and Liam Plunkett restricted India. With seven wickets in hand, one would have hoped the team to score 112 runs from 39 overs, but India found it tough to chase down as the rugged pitch worked against middle-order duo MS Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav.

The renowned cricket commentator Hasha Bhogle criticized India’s approach in the death overs. “I thought India were trying to win it till the time Hardik Pandya and Rishabh Pant were batting and then all of a sudden everyone is looking at everyone else because I do not think India tried hard enough to win at the end,” Deccan Chronicle quoted as said by Harsha Bhogle.

Pant and Hardik were dismissed in the 40th and the 45th over respectively. India could manage only 39 in the last five overs, which is too less. Those five overs saw only three fours and a six, which speaks volumes about the approach shown by MS Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav. It was clearly looking that the Men in Blue had surrendered without putting up a fight.

The cricket expert lauds Kohli and Rohit

“I do hope that the finish did not overshadow what came before because I think Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli batted really well after a very slow start,” he said. Kohli and Rohit have been the standout performers for the team so far.

While Rohit notched up a brilliant century, Kohli played the second fiddle with 66 runs, making a record fifth consecutive half-century in this tournament. These two beautifully controlled the innings with a 138-run partnership, India’s highest partnership for any wicket so far.

Though India lost the match, there were plenty of positives. Every batsman scored more than 30 runs, which is a good sign. The Indian fans would hope that there are no such defeats in the semi-finals. With two games to go, India is still in a position from where they can easily advance to the semis. The Men in Blue next take on Bangladesh on July 2.