While everyone who loves cricket in India praised the fighting spirit of Ravindra Jadeja and Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the World Cup semifinal against New Zealand, Sachin Tendulkar came out with quick reasons as to why India went down so badly. The master blaster looked visibly disappointed after India could not surpass even a decent score of 240 runs and crashed out of the World Cup losing by 18 runs.
Tendulkar said, “I am disappointed because we should have chased 240 without any doubt. It wasn’t a big total. Yes, New Zealand got off to a dream start by picking those 3 wickets upfront. But I feel that we can’t be all the time relying on Rohit (Sharma) to give a good start or Virat (Kohli) to come and make sure that a solid foundation is built. Players around them also will have to take more responsibility.”
Tendulkar Says Its Unfair To Expect Dhoni To Finish Always
India restricted the New Zealand team to a modest total of 239 runs. But after the famed top-order trio of Rohit, Rahul, and Virat failed to last even for more than 2 overs, for the first time in the World Cup India was in crisis.
Short but steady innings from Hardik Pandya and Rishabh Pant gave some hopes which were further stretched by Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja who made precious 116 runs partnership for the seventh wicket. However, India could not reach the target and lost. Most of the Indians had high hopes from Dhoni as he is the best finisher of the game.
Sachin Tendulkar said, “It’s not fair all the time to expect Dhoni to come and finish the game. He has done it time and again.”
Tendulkar Impressed By Williamson’s Tactical Moves
The former Indian captain praised the bowling display of New Zealand and the tactical moves by skipper Kane Williamson. Tendulkar said, “There came a stage where New Zealand kept things simple. If you saw their fast bowlers, they didn’t try too much upfront. They just bowled in the right areas, right channels and got those wickets. I felt Kane Williamson’s captaincy was incredible.”
The “God of Indian cricket” said that fans should not be harsh on players for the loss. He added, “We cannot be so critical with one failure. We cannot forget that we won 7 out of 8 games (in the league stage). Yes, all the teams have bad games, England also lost. They lost to Sri Lanka. We can’t be harsh on our team, it is a disappointing day, but it’s a bitter pill to swallow.”
