‘Let us not judge…’: Sachin Tendulkar to critics of India’s T20 World Cup semi-final loss

Skipper Rohit Sharma-led Team India has been facing a lot of criticism after the dismal semi-final loss against England. Batting great Sachin Tendulkar has come to the rescue of the players, asking critics to not judge the team by only one performance. 

Jos Buttler-led side beat Men in Blue by 10-wickets in a drubbing that will stay in the minds of cricket fans for a long time. Rohit Sharma and his men came under widespread criticism for below par batting and fielding. The match tactics and willingness to bat first at Adelaide Oval have also been under the scanner. With the loss, India failed to book a dream final versus Pakistan at the MCG. 

Amid the ongoing dissection of India’s performance in the T20 World Cup 2022 penultimate game, Tendulkar said, “I know the semi-final was really, really disappointing against England. I'm of the same vote. We are all the well-wishers of Indian cricket.”

"But also let us not judge our team only by this performance, because we have been world No. 1 T20 side as well. To get to that number one spot, it does not happen overnight. You have to play good cricket over a period of time. That's what the team has done," Sachin added.

India were humbled by England in a 10-wicket loss on Thursday. After being put in to bat first, India could only muster a score of 168/6, a below par total for Adelaide Oval. In response, English openers Buttler and Alex Hales showed what was missing from India’s batting approach. The Indian bowlers never got a chance in the match as Buttler and Hales raced away and achieved the target unbeaten. 

Among India’s critics were former England skipper Michael Vaughan who called the team the “worst underperforming white-ball team in history”. India has not had an ICC tournament success since the Champions Trophy in 2013.

1983 World Cup-winning former skipper Kapil Dev called Team India “chokers” but also said that people can’t be overly critical of them. "Yes, we can call them chokers. That's okay. They come close and then choke," Dev was quoted to have said on a TV show post the India-England match. Former opener Virender Sehwag said that he wants to see some senior players dropped from the team for the defeat. 

Tendulkar accepted that India did not put up a total that was not competitive and it was a “bad defeat, rather disappointing”, but backed the team. 

"By no means I'm trying to say that you know so these kinds of performances are 'okay'. Players also didn't want to go out and fail. Players also want to go out and win for the country.
"But every day it does not happen. In sport these ups and downs are there. It cannot be victories are ours and losses are theirs. We have to be in it together."

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(With inputs from PTI)