‘You cannot go and teach people how to handle pressure’: Rohit Sharma after India’s semifinal loss to England

Defending 169, Indian bowlers cut a sorry figure as England openers Alex Hales and Jos Buttler made a mockery of the chase, completing the task with four overs to spare.

By India Today Web Desk: Players cannot be taught how to handle pressure, said India captain Rohit Sharma after his team got knocked out of the T20 World Cup on Thursday, 10 November. India were handed a 10-wicket loss by England after the openers chased down 169 runs in just 16 overs.

"Yeah absolutely, it is disappointing how we turned up today. I thought we still batted well but we were not at all good with the ball. It wasn't a total where a team could chase down this total with no wickets. Ah, see I think when it comes to knockout stages, it comes to individuals as well. You cannot teach them to handle pressure. They have all handled it. They have been playing IPL. Some of these guys can handle it," Rohit started his analysis.

India’s 10 wicket defeat to England in the 2022 T20 World Cup semifinal marked their seventh knockout defeat in an ICC tournament since their Champions Trophy win in 2013.

India captain Rohit Sharma attributed the same to handling pressure on the big day.

“You cannot go and teach people how to handle pressure,” Rohit said post-match. “Lot of these guys play under pressure in IPL and some of them are able to handle that. When it comes to knockouts, it is about keeping calm.”

Hales then brought up the century of the opening stand by pulling Hardik Pandya for a six over deep mid-wicket and followed it up with another six by slog-sweeping off Ashwin. Buttler ramped Pandya over fine leg for four and got his fifty with a pulled six over deep square leg.

Buttler then hit Shami for two fours and a six in the 14th over, where he also got a reprieve as mid-off failed to take the catch and parried the ball to boundary rope. Fittingly, Buttler finished off the innings in style by dispatching Shami over long-on for a majestic six to enter the final.

Brief Scores: India 168/6 in 20 overs (Hardik Pandya 63, Virat Kohli 50; Chris Jordan 3/43, Adil Rashid 1/20) lost to England 170/0 in 16 overs (Alex Hales 86 not out, Jos Buttler 80 not out) by ten wickets.

“We still batted well at the back end. Not good enough with the ball, definitely not a wicket where a team could chase in 17 overs. We just did not turn up with the ball,” he said.

“We were a bit nervy the way we started with the ball. We wanted Bhuvi to keep it tight, on the stumps, we knew where runs are scored in Adelaide, square of the wicket, we spoke about that, but that did not happen.”

Having lost the toss and being put in to bat first, India posted 168/6 in their quota of 20 overs. In return, the England openers, Jos Buttler (80 off 49) and Alex Hales (86 off 47) propelled England to a semifinal win in style with 24 balls to spare.

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