India have been knocked out of the ICC Cricket World Cup after New Zealand prevailed by 18 runs in a truly sensational semi-final at the Old Trafford in Manchester.
On Sunday at Lord’s. the Black Caps will face hosts England or holders Australia – who beat them in the 2015 World final.
Chasing 240 to win, India lost Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul in the blink of an eye – meaning the top three were dismissed for one apiece for the first time ever.
Dinesh Karthik, who took 20 balls to get off the mark, was sent back by an extraordinary catch from James Neesham. India were 24 for four.
It was left to the youngsters Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya to rebuild. Pant, who had already been badly dropped by Neesham at midwicket, looked okay until he played the worst shot of the lot having worked hard to steady the ship.
Pant got on his knees, but couldn’t time the ball. The shot had elevation, but not the distance. Colin de Grandhomme took a good running catch to cut short Pant’s 32-run knock. Captain Kohli from the dressing room didn’t look pleased by any stretch of the imagination.
In the meantime, former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen seemed highly disappointed with the 21-year-old youngster.
He was gutted by the fact that Pant is not learning from his mistakes and is throwing his wicket away in crunch situations of a match.
A dejected Pietersen took to Twitter and wrote, “How many times have we seen @RishabPant777 do that?????!!!!! The very reason he wasn’t picked initially! Pathetic!.”
https://twitter.com/KP24/status/1148922037265674240
However, these comments didn’t go down well with former Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh. He replied to Pietersen, backing Pant, he said, “He’s played 8 Odis ! It’s not his fault he will learn and get better it’s not pathetic at all ! However we all are entitled to share our opinions.”
He’s played 8 Odis ! It’s not his fault he will learn and get better it’s not pathetic at all ! However we all are entitled to share our opinions 👍
— Yuvraj Singh (@YUVSTRONG12) July 10, 2019
