On this day in 2019, India’s World Cup campaign came to an end. The Men in Blue suffered a defeat at the hands of the New Zealand cricket team in the semifinals as the dream to win the global event on English soil ended.
Many fans would remember that Virat Kohli was the captain of the team, Rohit Sharma smashed five hundreds, MS Dhoni played his last ODI and Ravindra Jadeja hit a half-century in the semifinals. However, here’s a list of three things which you might not remember about the Men in Blue’s 2019 WC campaign.
1. Mohammed Shami was dropped 1 match after he took a 5-wicket haul against England
Mohammed Shami was the second-best bowler for India in terms of bowling average. He bagged 14 wickets, but surprisingly, he played only four matches. Shami bagged a five-wicket haul against England. In the match against Bangladesh, he remained wicketless. Subsequently, he was dropped for the match against Sri Lanka and the semifinal against New Zealand.
2. Vijay Shankar played more matches than Ravindra Jadeja in 2019 World Cup
Vijay Shankar’s inclusion in the WC squad surprised many fans. Ambati Rayudu was the preferred choice, but Shankar made the cut. Shankar played three matches, scoring 58 runs and picking up two wickets before he was ruled out.
Ravindra Jadeja, whom some fans mistakenly consider the MVP of India’s campaign, played only 2 matches – against Sri Lanka and New Zealand. Jadeja took the diving catch against England as a substitute fielder.
3. 2019 World Cup semifinal was a repeat of warm-up match
2019 WC semifinal between India and New Zealand had same things which happened in warm-up match. In warm-up match also, Indian top-order collapsed with the team being down to 115/8. Ravindra Jadeja then hit a half-century to guide India to 179. Trent Boult took 4 wickets in that match, including KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma.
