ICC T20 World Cup 2022: 'Let us not judge Team India only by the semis performance' - Tendulkar
ICC T20 World Cup 2022: India was knocked out embarrassingly by England in the semis in Adelaide on Thursday. However, Sachin Tendulkar has advised not to judge the side based on the semis.
FollowOn Saturday, legendary former Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar conveyed that he too was dissatisfied at former champion Team India's unforgiving failure versus fellow former champion England in the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 semi-final. However, he guided the critics not to "judge" the team based on this flop. England pummeled India by ten wickets after Rohit Sharma's much-vaunted batting line-up failed to fire in the opening ten overs and slashed a modest 168/6 at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday.
"I know the semi-final was disappointing against England. I'm of the same vote. We are all well-wishers of Indian cricket. But also, let us not judge our team only by this performance because we have also been the world's No. 1 T20 side. Getting to that number-one spot does not happen overnight. You have to play good cricket over a while. That's what the team has done," Tendulkar said in a video sent to PTI.
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Former English skipper Michael Vaughan has led the objection and called India the "worst underperforming white-ball team in history" due to its prolonged ICC tournament title delay since the ICC Champions Trophy 2013. India's opening pair of KL Rahul and Rohit have been the biggest disappointment, as they have yet to be able to step up during the PowerPlay (PP) and early middle overs.
India scored 38/1 inside the PP versus England. Only because of Hardik Pandya's vigorous half-century could India manage 168/6. "168 at Adelaide wasn't a great total. The dimension of the ground is completely different. The side boundaries are short. I would have said maybe 190 or so, or around that would have been a good total. 168 at Adelaide is equivalent to 150 or so on any other ground," added Tendulkar.
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"To me, that's not a competitive total. So, let's accept that we did not put up a good score, and so was the case with our bowling when it came to picking wickets we were unsuccessful. It was a tough game for us. 170 for no loss [for England], that's a bad defeat, rather disappointing," Tendulkar counted.
But, the former skipper lent his support to the side and communicated that triumph and defeat are part of the game. "By no means I'm trying to say that, you know, so these kinds of performances are 'okay'. Players also didn't want to go out and fail. Players also want to go out and win for the country. But every day, it does not happen. In sports, these ups and downs are there. It cannot be victories are ours and losses are theirs. We have to be in it together," concluded Tendulkar.
(With inputs from PTI)
