Indian National Team has found itself in a spot of bother after their early loss against Pakistan in the ongoing ICC T20I World Cup in the UAE. Sharma had a forgetful day at the office against arch-rivals Pakistan. Shaheen Shah Afridi dismissed Rohit LBW for a golden duck in the very first over. This was the start of a batting collapse for India as they managed to score 151 for the loss of 7 wickets. Despite the loss, Michael Atherton backs India.
The loss was never concerning, but the way India has lost has posed many interrogations over team selection and responsibilities. In the post-match conference, India Captain Virat Kohli was asked whether he should consider dropping their star-batsman Rohit Sharma.
Michael Atherton Backs India
But former England Captain Michael Atherton backs India as the tournament progresses. He insists that dropping Sharma would be a huge call to take based on a single performance. And it is too soon to replace a player of Sharma’s stature up-top.
He added that India is following the right step of going with the opening combination of Rahul and Rohit. Even though outscored KL in the warm-up match, KL scored at a better strike rate during the power play. Considering how Rohit plays, he takes some time to get going. KL can play an aggressive role in the power play.
Atherton backs India and believes KL and Rohit are the perfect batsmen to lead India’s batting innings. He added that it would be unreasonable to write India off at the early stages of the tournament.
The onus is on the team to silence the doubters and display a convincing performance in their upcoming matches. Every match is crucial and any loss would reduce India’s chances to qualify for the knockout stages of the competition.
India and New Zealand in T20 World Cup 2021
India plays New Zealand on Sunday as both teams search for their first win in the World Cup. Both Indians and Kiwis have lost their opening matches of the group stage to Pakistan. After a slow start, both teams would be hoping to turn their top gear.
India suffered a dominant Pakistan performance, which saw the men in green win comprehensively by ten wickets. Virat Kohli was the only positive for India. Indian bowlers seemed toothless against the Pakistani openers.
Kiwi’s dreams of a perfect start were shattered as Shoaib Malik and Asif Ali cruised past the threat of the kiwi bowlers quite comfortably. Haris Rauf put in a brilliant shift in the first innings, which restricted New Zealand to a competitive total of 134.
