NEWS
Follow UsRohit Sharma admitted that his team failed to handle the pressure of playing a big match following India's 10-wicket thrashing against England at Adelaide in the 2022 T20 World Cup semifinal on Thursday.
Set a target of 169 after fifties from Hardik Pandya (63 off 33 balls) and Virat Kohli (50 off 40), England openers barely looked troubled as they set the record for highest partnership in T20 World Cup history and chased the target in just 16 overs.
Indian bowlers looked listless against Jos Buttler (80 not out off 49 balls) and Alex Hales (86 not out off 47 balls) who kept scoring at over 10 RPO even after the powerplay.
"It was definitely not a wicket where a team can come and chase it down in 16 overs. With the ball we didn't turn up today. When it comes to knockout stages, it's all about handling the pressure. Depends on the individual as well," Rohit said in the post-match presentation.
Rohit's continued about handling pressure on big occasions as he felt his players have played enough big games in the IPL which should've prepared them for Thursday's game.
"You can't teach anyone to handle pressure. When these guys play the playoffs in the IPL and all that, those are high-pressure games, and they're able to handle it. The way we started with the ball was not ideal. We were a little nervy, but you have to give credit to the (England) openers as well. They played really well," he said.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who had claimed Buttler's wicket seven times in T20s before, started by conceding three boundaries against the England skipper. The over set the tone for England's chase as all six Indian bowlers on the day conceded over 7 runs per over.
"When Bhuvi bowled the first ove,r it swung today, but not from the right areas. We wanted to keep it tight, not give room, because square of the wicket was an area we were aware of - that's where the runs came today. If we keep it tight and the batsman still score runs, we'll take it. But we didn't do that today," Rohit said.
England started the tournament with a nervy win over Afghanistan and then slumped to a five-run defeat to Ireland which was followed by a wash-out against Australia. However, they bounced back a thumping win over New Zealand and edged out Sri Lanka to qualify for the semifinal.
However, they looked imperious against India as Buttler reflected on the tournament as a whole.
"(The Ireland loss) feels a long time ago. The character we've shown to get through the tournament since then, and put in our best performance today, has been amazing. We came here excited, it was a really good feeling when we came in. A group effort from 1 to 11," the England skipper said.
Buttler and Hales got most of their runs from boundaries as they slammed 13 fours and 10 sixes combined in the innings.
"Hales was tough to bowl at today, he used the dimensions of the ground, and we complement each other perfectly. He was a brilliant partner today," he said.
He also praised Chris Jordan, who came in injured Mark Wood and got the wickets of Rohit, Kohli and Pandya.
"Special praise to Chris Jordan for coming in today, not having played so far, and he ran into Hardik playing fantastically at the death, but I thought he handed that really well," Buttler said.
