The director general of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) addressed the defeat against India in the semi-final of the T20 World Cup 2024. He said that it was neither a bad sign nor a misfortune to lose against the Rohit Sharma-led team, which It is the best in the world.
England’s ICC T20 World Cup 2024 campaign ended after suffering a crushing defeat against India in the semi-final of the tournament. The defending champions were not very skilled with bat and ball, while the Men in Blue took advantage of every opportunity to advance to the final.
England opted to play first and failed to build on the momentum they had gained after that. India captain Rohit Sharma played a spectacular innings of 57 runs while Suryakumar Yadav (47) supported him well as India scored 171 runs.
England being the defending champions, they were expected to put up a fight, but it was a torrid display from them with the bat. They couldn’t get going because the Indian spinners were all over them and made them look clueless.
England went all out for 101 and lost the game by 68 runs. The defending champions did not have the type of start they would have wanted in the tournament. They were also under pressure at times, but managed to reach the semi-final. But after that defeat, they have been the subject of many analyzes for their poor performance.
Rob Key admitted that fans are disappointed, but it wasn’t that bad. He stressed that the team played well but also admitted that they were inconsistent. Speaking in interaction with Wisden, he explained:
“I don’t think it’s a bad sign when you get to a semi-final and you’re almost a little disappointed about it, as I imagine almost everyone is. [including] “Players, coaching staff. Sometimes I think we showed how good we are and sometimes we were inconsistent.”
I don’t think it’s a shame to lose to India – Rob Key
Rob Key further stated that losing to India is not a shame as they are the best team in the world. He said that Australia and South Africa are also chasing them. The ECB boss also stated that they could have won the match against India. He added:
“I don’t think it’s a shame to lose to India. I think they are at the top now. They have been the best team in world cricket in all formats for a couple of years and everyone else is chasing them, along with Australia and South Africa. I think that that was a match (the semi-final) that we could have also won, which would have put us in a slightly different position,” he concluded.
It remains to be seen what the future holds for England in the future. They are likely to go through a transition and some big names will be left out of the squad.