Team India’s wait for an Apex Cricket Council trophy was extended on Thursday when Rohit Sharma and co. were defeated by England in a tough 10-wicket defeat in the 20-20 World Cup semifinal. Jos Buttler’s team completely outplayed the Indian unit, chasing down a 169-run target with four overs to spare.
The ODI World Cup, which will be held in India next year, will mark a decade since the Men in Blue finished on top of a major tournament. Shahid Afridi was asked to comment on the topic, and the former Pakistan all-rounder criticised India’s leadership abilities.
“These things will now be noticed, when you win these things are brushed under the carpet. Today India lost and everyone’s reflecting on the loss. But if we look closely, the Indian team need a leader after Ganguly and Dhoni. Someone, who leads the team from the front. After Dhoni, they tried Virat but they didn’t achieve outstanding results. Right now Rohit is the captain and we still don’t see any commendable performances,” Afridi said in an interaction with Samaa TV.
“A leader’s role is extremely important, their performances are very crucial. IPL is played for over two months, a lot of players get opportunity and despite that if India are failing to build a team, then in my opinion, they have a lot of work to do. The board needs to think, where are we making mistake, because they’ve invested a lot of money in cricket and a lot of players have also emerged. If you don’t go out and win big tournaments, then it is a sign of worry,” he added.
You can’t teach anyone to handle pressure: Rohit Sharma
After the game, the captain was asked to share their thoughts on the loss. During the post-match presentation ceremony, Rohit, who was visibly emotional by the defeat, responded bluntly, saying, “You can’t teach anyone to handle pressure.”
