India's unbeaten run ended as England won by 31 runs at Edgbaston.
World Cup 2019: India's unbeaten run ended as England won by 31 runs at Edgbaston.
Opener Jonny Bairstow's hundred (111 off 109 balls) set the platform which took England to an imposing 337 for 7 in 50 overs. The spin duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav gave away the most runs.
The total proved to be good enough as Rohit Sharma's (102) 25th ODI hundred and skipper Virat Kohli's (66) fifth consecutive half-century could only take India to 306 for 5. Hardik Pandya (45 off 33 balls) and MS Dhoni (42 not out off 31 balls) could not do much.
Kedar Jadhav joined Dhoni in the middle as India needed 71 runs in last 5 overs. However, there were hardly any big shots in the final over. It seemed that there was not much attempt to go for the target. India added just 39 runs in the final 5 overs (with 12 of them coming in the final over).
Taking a dig at Dhoni's batting, Pakistan's Basit Ali slammed the player for his slow runs, while also praising Rohit, Kohli and Rishabh Pant.
DNA's full coverage:
ENG vs IND World Cup 2019: Virat Kohli lists reasons for India's loss against England
ENG vs IND World Cup 2019: Jonny Bairstow hails 'close to complete performance' after win over India
Why did MS Dhoni-Kedar Jadhav play like that? Rohit Sharma explains reason behind slow batting
1. 'Picnic manayi hai batsman ne'
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Talking to a Pakistani local news channel, Basit Ali spoke about India's match against England.
He said, "If you are chasing 337 runs and in the first 10 overs you only make 28 runs in which two fielders are in the outer circle, then according to me India played those 10 overs really bad."
The anchor could be seen trying to goad Basit Ali to say something controversial using the term "lets talk in the cricketing sense".
Basit Ali continued to say that the batsman had a picnic on the field. "They had a picnic on the field. The batsmen were just making sure they were in good form. Rohit Sharma scored a century at his own time so did Virat Kohli score his 66 so leisurely. It was just Pandya who was hitting and scored 45 off 33 balls."
The other panellists also spoke saying, "Even after playing so much why did their run rate not decrease?"
The anchor made fun of the moment saying that though India lost the match they maintained their run-rate. They are not even out of the semi-finals race but made it difficult for Pakistan.
2. 'Did not see Kohli even once talk to the bowlers'
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One of the speakers even questioned Kohli's captaincy saying that why did the captain not speak to both the Indian spinners who were giving away so many runs.
"Did not see Kohli even once talk to the bowlers. In cricket, if your bowlers are giving away too many runs, then its the responsibility of the captain to go and talk to them. Even during India's batting, Dhoni in the last 10 overs did not even try to hit the ball. When Hardik Pandya got out, Dhoni did not even run to cross and take the strike and made a new batsman face the bowler."
3. 'Our senior Pakistani players should learn from Rishabh Pant'
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Basit Ali added saying, "No doubt England's score was a strong base for their fielding. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli played very well. But the player whose game I enjoyed the most was Rishabh Pant. He made only a few runs, but he played his first World Cup match. Our senior Pakistani players should learn from Pant".
"Chasing 337 is a huge target, but the first six came only in the last over while one side of the boundary was just 60 yards. Whereas England hit 13 sixes," Basit Ali concluded.
4. Dhoni-Kedar partnership did leave Twitter 'baffled, angry and confused'
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This 'lack of intent' by MS Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav did not go down well with many fans on social media.
Well as England bowled in last 10-12 overs, India’s lack of urgency and strikepower towards made it an anticlimactic end. May have still lost but would have been better fight. Fizzled out after Pandya’s dismissal. Dhoni disappointing, unable to press on soon enough
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) June 30, 2019
Not sure what Kedar and Dhoni trying to do here. Its not about winning but its about showing the intent to win....
— Broken Cricket (@BrokenCricket) June 30, 2019
Kohli always defends Dhoni by saying that Dhoni knows what is required..... Does he know what is required now?
— Gappistan Radio (@GappistanRadio) June 30, 2019
5. Basit Ali earlier said 'India may lose intentionally to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka'
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Basit Ali earlier had said that India will intentionally lose matches against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh to deny Pakistan a place in the top four.
Basit Ali reckons India will not want Pakistan to qualify for the semi-finals and may play poorly in their matches against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh #CWC19 pic.twitter.com/vwg3oFnnpl
— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) June 26, 2019
Not just him, even former Pakistan cricketer Sikander Bakht has said that India might lose their remaining games in ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 to oust Pakistan from the tournament after getting through to the knockout stage.
Former Pakistan bowler Sikander Bakht "If India are already through, they will in their final match allow the opponents to win to ensure that Pakistan are knocked-out" #CWC19 pic.twitter.com/LNrwGgsrTo
— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) June 28, 2019
