Former England captain Nasser Hussain has lauded the Rohit Sharma-led Indian team for reaching the final match of the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2024. Nasser Hussain has dismissed the allegations of the International Cricket Council (ICC) favouring the Indian cricket team in the ICC T20 tournament.
The Men in Blue cruised to a 68-run victory over the Jos Buttler-led side in the semi-final in Guyana on Thursday, June 27. The Indian team was set a target of 172 runs after being asked to bat first. The 2007 T20 World Cup champions restricted the opposition to 103 in 16.4 overs to reach the final match.
On Saturday they will face each other in Barbados, according to Nasser Hussain
Nasser Hussain acknowledged India’s comfortable semi-final win against England on a slower pitch amid allegations of bias in their favour by the ICC. Hussain acknowledged that the Men in Blue demonstrated dominance on all surfaces throughout the tournament.
“The narrative will be that everything on Thursday was geared towards India reaching the T20 World Cup final – the surface, the venue, everything seemed to be in their favour,” Hussain wrote in his column for the Daily Mail.
“But if you look at things in more detail, they came into this semi-final against England having beaten Australia, world 50-over champions, on a bouncy, good pitch in St. Lucia and came back to a lower, slower pitch. and they won comfortably. Fair play to them for the way they played and it feels good that India and South Africa, the two unbeaten teams in the tournament, meet in Barbados on Saturday.”
Before the start of the tournament, the ICC announced that India would play the second semi-final in Guyana, irrespective of their position in the Super Eight table. This decision was taken to accommodate Indian fans watching in prime time. The first semi-final match was scheduled for the afternoon in Trinidad.
The semi-final match between India and England did not have a reserve day. India would have advanced to the final had they been eliminated due to rain due to their higher position in the Super Eight table. However, the ICC allocated double the usual time, allowing a 40-over contest to be completed despite rain interruptions.
Rohit Sharma showed his calling – Nasser Hussain
Nasser Hussain claimed that the Indian team scored quite decently to defend in tough conditions for the batsmen. The cricketer-turned-commentator praised Rohit Sharma for adapting his game by avoiding his favourite shot to score another half-century.
“India’s score was only slightly higher than the 168 they scored in the 2022 semi-final loss to England at the Adelaide Oval, but the difference in conditions from here in Guyana was child’s play. A combination of players keeping the ball low and players turning it without bouncing made his 171 for seven a pretty decent score to defend, and Rohit Sharma showed his class by taking one of his favorite shots, the pull, out of the equation. , to add another half century,” Hussain added.
Rohit Sharma scored a half-century despite early dismissals from Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant. The Indian captain scored 57 runs off 39 balls, including six fours and two sixes. We will next see him in action when India take on South Africa in the final match at the Kensington Oval in Barbados on Saturday, June 29.
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