“You are not on the same page” – Former India player questions Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid’s contradictory statements after India’s T20 World Cup exit
Former India player Reetinder Singh Sodhi reckons head coach Rahul Dravid and captain Rohit Sharma are not on the same page after the team's T20 World Cup exit.
He questioned their contradictory statements, with Rohit pointing fingers at the bowling unit, while Dravid held the batters responsible for their semifinal loss against England in Adelaide on Thursday (November 10).
Speaking to India News, Sodhi said:
“As captain and coach, you are not on the same page. When the thinking process is different, it gets difficult. The captain and coach have to be on the same page, it's biggest example is Ravi Shastri and Virat Kohli.”
Earlier, Rohit had blamed the bowling unit for failing to step up in the crunch game. Speaking to Star Sports post-match, he said:
“We were not up to the mark with the ball. We couldn't turn up today. It's all about handling the pressure in knockout games. All these guys have played enough to understand that. These guys have played under pressure in IPL games. It's all about keeping calm."
He continued:
“I thought it swung a bit in the first over, but not from the right areas.”
Dravid, meanwhile, admitted that his team should have scored at least 180-185 runs in the T20 World Cup semifinal. He added that they were outplayed in all departments by England.
"Obviously disappointed to finish in the semi-finals ... We will reflect on it and move forward as we build for the next World Cup."
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Speaking at the post-match press conference, he said:
"We have been batting well. We were one of those teams who got 180-plus scores here (in Australia) two to three times in this tournament. When we started, the boys said it (surface) was tacky and slow. At the end of 15-over mark, we were around 15-20 runs short. In death overs, we were good, with Hardik being brilliant. We should have got 180-185 at the end.”
He added:
"Obviously disappointed to finish at the semifinals. We would have liked to go a couple of steps further. But we were outplayed and outclassed.”
Batting first, India set a target of 169, which England overhauled with a whopping four wickets and all ten wickets to spare.
“Time to ponder and learn” – Reetinder Sodhi's message to Team India after T20 World Cup exit
Sodhi has urged Team India to learn from their mistakes and perform well in the 2024 T20 World Cup in the US.
“Whatever has happened in the T20 World Cup, it’s time to learn. Otherwise, we might lose the next World Cup in a semifinal or not even reach the knockout stage. Time to ponder and learn.”
The focus will now shift to ODIs ahead of the 2023 ODI World Cup in India. The Men in Blue will play 15 ODIs ahead of the premier tournament.
Schedule of Indian team till the IPL 2023:
3 ODI & 3 T20 vs NZ (A)
3 ODI & 2 Test vs BAN (A)
3 ODI & 3 T20 vs SL (H)
3 ODI & 3 T20 vs NZ (H)
3 ODI & 4 Tests vs AUS (H)
Meanwhile, Hardik Pandya and Shikhar Dhawan will respectively lead Team India in the upcoming three-match T20I and ODI series in New Zealand, starting November 18.