Oct 31, 2022, 11:55 AM IST
Senior Indian pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar didn't mince words when he categorically said that "things could have been different" had Aiden Markram's catch been completed or a couple of close run-outs been inflicted during his side's five-wicket failure versus South Africa at the Perth Stadium during the Super 12 clash on Sunday. Former Indian skipper Virat Kohli dropped a sitter of Markram at the deep mid-wicket off veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin while on 35.
"Yes, if you had taken those catches, it would have been different. Catches win matches, and those chances, if taken, could have made the difference," Bhuvneshwar spoke during the post-match conference. Markram scored 52 off 41 deliveries and contributed 76 necessary runs for the fourth wicket with David Miller (59*), while the South Africans chased the target of 134 with a couple of balls to spare.
While Bhuvneshwar didn't want to earmark that the dropped catch was when the momentum shifted, one could feel that fielding on the day let the team down. "Not the catch we dropped and the run-out chances that we missed, I won't say momentum shifted, but it would have been different. But, I won't pinpoint any particular moment as such," he reckoned.
Difficult track to bat on
Bhuvneshwar was empathetic with the Indian top order that toiled to cope with extra pace, bounce and movement. "When it comes to batting, we all know it was a difficult wicket. If you look at the tournament so far, the par score has been around 140 and so. We believed that with 140, we had the belief that we can make a match of it," he estimated.
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Bhuvneshwar defended skipper Rohit Sharma's judgment to hand Ashwin the 18th over after being hammered for 17 in the 14th. The only other option Rohit had was off-spinner Deepak Hooda. "Generally, the thought is that if the spinner could keep things tight, it would have been difficult for the batters in the end while facing the pacers. And, if you keep a spinner at the end, it becomes easier for batting. If we got a wicket, things could have changed," he expressed.
Unlike India, where chasing is preferred in Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) due to the dew factor, conditions in Australia change from one city to another. "That's the beauty of Australia. In India, you try to chase as you have dew. In Australia, things change from city to city, and it was difficult chasing here, but it could be different in the next city we go," Bhuvi described.
However, Bhuvneshwar refrained from providing extreme cold conditions as a reason for not faring nicely. "It was complicated, but we never discussed that as we knew we had to cope with those conditions. Even in Melbourne, it was cold, but we never talked about these things," he concluded.
(With inputs from PTI)