In Thursday’s second semi final at the Adelaide Oval, England’s white-ball brilliance defeated India’s T20 World Cup marketing campaign.

Due to Hardik Pandya’s blistering 63 off 33 balls and Virat Kohli’s 50 off 40, India posted a par-for-the-course score of 168/6. England will now compete for the trophy in the final against Pakistan, who defeated New Zealand in the first semifinal, on November 13 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. However, the Indian bowlers were stung by Jos Buttler and Alex Hales, as the England openers went all the way to overhaul India’s entire and deliver a ten-wicket hammering to Rohit Sharma and Co.

In just 16 overs, Buttler (80* off 49) and Hales (86* off 47) made fun of the clueless Indian bowling attack by scoring 170-runs without being run out to advance to the final. The two Englishmen hit a total of 13 fours and 10 sixes during the blistering run-chase.

Monty Panesar, a former England spinner, questioned India’s lacklustre performance, describing it as “overconfident” and lacking a strategy

“Why did Rohit (Sharma) not have Plan B or Plan C? India have played really good cricket in the tournament, but they needed to understand that it was a semifinal. Rohit expected Bhuvneshwar (Kumar) to get some swing, but that didn’t happen. So he should have gone into the semis with Plan B and Plan C as well. When one thing doesn’t work for you, you immediately switch to the other plan…but that wasn’t the case with the Indian team.”

mentioned Panesar speaking to Timesofindia.com in an unique interview.

While in-kind Kohli has scored the most runs at this World Cup, scoring 296 runs in six matches at an astonishing average of 98.67, other big names like captain Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, and Dinesh Karthik have had disappointing performances.

Suryakumar has scored 239 runs in six matches, a mean of 59.75, to rank second in the group. 

Except for his defeats against Bangladesh (50) and Zimbabwe (51), Rahul failed to score double digits in the remaining games. He scored four against Pakistan, nine against the Netherlands, nine against South Africa, and five against England in the semifinal. Panesar is of the opinion that India placed an excessive amount of reliance on Kohli and Suryakumar, and that this “over-reliance” ultimately proved to be costly for the country.

“Over-reliance on Virat and Suryakumar cost India the World Cup. India were heavily dependent on Virat and Surya. They have been in really good touch and scored heavily for India. But what about other batsmen? KL Rahul scored against small teams. India needed big scores from him against big teams, but he failed. India needed a solid foundation from the openers. (Absence of) That hurt India the most. Virat and Surya can’t score in every match. Someone else needs to join them. India need good openers. India opted for KL Rahul because they didn’t have any choice,”

Panesar, who performed 50 Tests, 26 ODIs and 1 T20I for England between 2006 and 2013, mentioned.

WHY DIDN’T HARSHAL PATEL AND YUZVENDRA CHAHAL PLAY?

Panesar also questioned India’s playing lineup, which included replacing Dinesh Karthik with Rishabh Pant and favouring left-arm spinner Axar Patel and off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin over Yuzvendra Chahal’s leg-spin.

Axar could only manage three wickets in five matches, while Ashwin claimed six wickets in six matches at a financial cost of 8.15.Ashwin was hammered for 27 runs in two overs in the final match. Chahal was not used at all during the T20 World Cup. Additionally, Harshal Patel was observed warming the bench.

“Chahal is a far better bowler than Ashwin. Why did India stick with Ashwin when Chahal was also there? Chahal has variations; and if he doesn’t take wickets, he will tighten the noose around the batsmen and can control the flow of runs…Harshal was another option India should have gone with. He is a swing bowler and can bat too. Why didn’t India use these two? I am amazed. When you have (such) players, then why not use them,”

Panesar mentioned.

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‘INDIA FAVOURITES FOR 2023 ODI WORLD CUP AT HOME’

The 2023 ODI World Cup will likely be hosted by India, and Panesar is assured that Rohit’s group will put up a stupendous present in the 50-over showpiece occasion.

“India in India are super strong. The 2011 World Cup was in India and (MS) Dhoni took them to the title. India were dominant in the tournament. We have seen how dominating India can be at home. Rohit will surely put that trophy in India’s cabinet. The 2023 World Cup belongs to India,”

Panesar signed off.