Asia Cup 2022: "Even I would have played the same way" - Virender Sehwag defends Ibrahim Zadran's knock against India
Former Indian opener Virender Sehwag has claimed that there was no other way Afghanistan's Ibrahim Zadran could have played after his side lost early wickets against Team India at the Asia Cup 2022 in Dubai on Thursday.
After three overs, Afghanistan were reeling at 9/4 and were in danger of getting bowled out quickly. However, Zadran's 64*(59) ensured that they batted the entire 20 overs.
Speaking to Cricbuzz after Team India's win, here's what Sehwag had to say about Afghanistan's batting performance:
"When so many wickets fall upfront, as a batter you think about taking your team to a respectable total or at least hold (the) fort and try to hit other bowlers that come into the attack later.
"So no matter how big a batter you are, after losing 4 wickets even I would have played the same way that Zadran did. Because instead of going for the kill and not even scoring fifty runs, it is better to wait for 6-7 overs and then see what can be done."
Thank you for all the love and support. We tried our best as a team. however things did not go our way. But we haven’t lose hope. we will come back stronger in sha Allah ❤️🇦🇫 https://t.co/AlSsgiDcRh
Virender Sehwag on Team India's biggest learning from the Asia Cup
Virender Sehwag believes the most important takeaway for Team India is that they shouldn't be experimenting in a multi-national tournament like the Asia Cup. The Men in Blue continued to tweak their side according to match-ups but ended up losing against both Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Speaking about the importance of not chopping and changing the side too much, Sehwag stated:
"The biggest learning is that when the captain says, 'We are trying out players and we will have a bit of a surprise'. Please do that in bilateral series and not in a multi-national tournament. Try to win every game here. So when you throw such surprises here, it's shocking."
Rohit says, we will learn from this and it will help us in making a good combination. You are in a constant learning phase since 2013.
Kab seekhoge bhai? Introspection and some tough calls, that's what you need to do! Please improve your selection. @ImRo45
Former cricketer Ajay Jadeja was also present on the panel and gave his opinion on India's takeaways from the tournament. He stressed how different the press conferences of captain Rohit Sharma and coach Rahul Dravid were, which showed that there isn't a united thought process in the team.
Jadeja also agreed with Virender Sehwag on the point of making too many changes. He believes the team needs to settle down and finalize its options. On this, he said:
"The learning I feel they should take is to focus on the process and not make wholesale changes according to results. The coach and captain are saying different things in press conferences and that's something that shouldn't be out in public.
"Whatever differences you have, you should talk about it in the dressing room. But you should be united in front of the world. Just stick to your plans and don't panic when you go into a World Cup, like we have seen happen over the years."
Will Team India be able to win the T20 World Cup after a disappointing Asia Cup campaign? Let us know in the comments.