Dubai: Former England captain Nasser Hussain reckons that India should not have split up KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma in the T20 World Cup game against New Zealand.
In the game against New Zealand, India brought in Ishan Kishan in place of Suryakumar Yadav and the left-hander went out to open with Rahul and Rohit dropped to number three slot. “I see India as a very talented side but sometimes selection wise Hardik Pandya just playing as a batter alters the balance of the side. Against New Zealand, the idea to split Rohit and Rahul was not a good one,” said Hussain while speaking to t20worldcup.com.
Hussain also said that India does not play a fearless brand of cricket in ICC events, and this is a big surprise looking at the talent they have.
“You have got to go out and express yourself. India has got so much talent. That may be the only thing that’s holding India back in ICC events. They don’t quite play the fearless brand of cricket that they deserve to because they are so talented,” said Hussain.
“I had them as favorites. They had been playing IPL here, are a star-studded side. They got a setback in that first game. The way Shaheen Afridi bowled in the powerplay, those two deliveries that Rohit and Rahul got would have got a lot of great cricketers out. That’s sometimes the problem with the Indian side. They are so good at the top, some of the middle-order don’t get much of a hit and suddenly you need a Plan B and that was found wanting,” he added.
India was knocked out of the World Cup on Sunday after Afghanistan failed to defeat New Zealand. Even if the Men in Blue wins against Namibia, they would not be able to leapfrog New Zealand at the second position in Group 2 to make the semi-finals.
