T20 World Cup 2022: "It is not good news for India" - Harbhajan Singh on Ben Stokes' match-winning knock for England vs Sri Lanka
Harbhajan Singh believes Ben Stokes' match-defining knock in a must-win game against Sri Lanka brings contrasting news for England and India.
Stokes scored an unbeaten 42 off 36 balls to help England chase down a 142-run target in their final T20 World Cup 2022 Group 1 Super 12 game on Saturday, November 5. The win took Jos Buttler and Co. to the semi-finals of the global event as the second-placed team in the group.
During a discussion on Star Sports, Harbhajan was asked about the confidence Stokes would have gained from the knock. He responded:
"Such knocks increase your confidence, not only yours, such matches definitely lift you as a team. This is the perfect kind of scenario which England wanted, that such a performance comes from a big player ahead of a big match. So this is definitely great news for England but it is not good news for India."
Ben Stokes’ best T20 innings for England: calm, clinical, focused.
India will face Zimbabwe in their final Group 2 Super 12 fixture in Melbourne on Sunday, November 6. A win for the Men in Blue would assure them top spot in the group and set up a semi-final clash against England in Adelaide.
"He played an extremely responsible knock" - Harbhajan Singh on Ben Stokes' innings
Harbhajan was also asked about Stokes proving once again that he is a big-match player. He replied:
"He played an extremely responsible knock. He understood the importance of his wicket. It was a slow wicket and he wanted to score runs with singles and doubles. He is no lesser than anyone when it comes to hitting sixes but he didn't try to hit sixes, played along the ground and took two-two runs."
The former India spinner feels the result of the match might have been different if the England all-rounder was not there in the middle. He said:
"We saw that in the last two overs as well. It was an extremely mature knock. It was important for Ben Stokes to remain there. England's story might have ended if any other player had been there."
Harbhajan concluded by observing that Stokes should have been chosen as the Player of the Match. He elaborated:
"They won because Ben Stokes was there. You don't get experience just by being under the sun, you get it by playing for a long time. He should have been the Player of the Match. He picked up a wicket as well."
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Adil Rashid was awarded the Player of the Match for his game-changing spell during Sri Lanka's innings. The leg-spinner returned figures of 1/16 in his four overs to help restrict the Lankan Lions after they got off to a blazing start.