Published: Mar 16, 2016, 05:53 PM (IST)
Edited: Mar 16, 2016, 05:53 PM (IST)
India were convincingly beaten on Tuesday by 47 runs against New Zealand at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur. The opening match of the Super-10 stage of the T20 World Cup 2016 saw India bowled out for just 79 runs in reply to the Kiwi total of 126 for 7. India were completely outdone by the New Zealand spin trio of Nathan McCullum, Ish Sodhi and Mitchell Santner who shared 9 wickets among them. Talking about India’s poor display with the bat, former Indian batsman Virender Sehwag felt that the batsmen lacked application on the day and should have looked to play the whole 20 overs. Although, Sehwag was happy about the Indian Women’s team performance against Bangladesh in the Women’s World T20, who won by 72 runs. FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: India vs New Zealand, T20 World Cup 2016, Match 13 at Nagpur
“It was a mixed day for India. Women’s team won against Bangladesh, but men’s team lost to New Zealand. I believe India lost as the batsmen didn’t apply themselves,” Sehwag said in an exclusive chat with Cricbuzz.”If they had thought of playing (all) 120 deliveries, India could have won the game easily, but unfortunately, some soft dismissals and bad shot selection cost them dearly. Toss made a big difference as New Zealand won it and batted first, and they put on 126 runs on the board. And when India were chasing, they batted only 18.1 overs and got all-out for 79″, said the dashing ex-opener. Also Read: T20 World Cup 2016, India vs New Zealand: Sunil Gavaskar says India got taste of their own medicine
New Zealand pulled out a surprise when they named three spinners in their Playing XI and left out pacers – Trent Boult and Tim Southee. But the gamble paid off for Kane Williamson’s side. “I was surprised when I saw that Southee and Boult were not part of New Zealand’s playing XI. I thought they planned really well and their strategy was good. That is why they picked three spinners. New Zealand’s spinners picked nine wickets between them”, Sehwag said.
The ‘Nawab of Najafgarh’ felt India were still in the game with Dhoni and Kohli at the crease, as they kept rotating strike. But Sodhi’s 2 wickets in two overs with that of Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja, completely tilted the game in New Zealand’s favor. “I think when Sodhi got Kohli and Jadeja’s wickets in two overs, it was a big moment for New Zealand. The way Kohli and Dhoni were batting, it looked like they will play till the end and finish the game. Unfortunately, Sodhi got Kohli’s wicket and then Jadeja’s wicket, and the Indian batting collapsed, Sehwag said.
Sehwag although was confident about the fact that India would still qualify for the semi-finals of the World T20 along with New Zealand despite yesterday’s loss. He said – “I predicted that New Zealand and India will qualify from the group. I hope that India will cope up with this defeat and come hard at Pakistan and try to win that game. I am sure that if they play to their potential, they will beat Pakistan, Australia and Bangladesh.”
