Sourav Ganguly and Nasser Hussain baffled over MS Dhoni and Jadhav’s approach in the chase

England brought India’s unbeaten run to a screeching halt in Birmingham on Sunday. Chasing a mammoth 338, India could only reach 306 for the loss of five and fell short of the target by 31 runs. They were in the game until Hardik Pandya was in the middle but Kedar Jadhav and MS Dhoni strangely played out the overs thereafter which didn’t go down well with the many. Even Sourav Ganguly and Nasser Hussain questioned their approach and criticised the duo a lot for their approach.

They came together when India needed 71 runs off the last five overs and rotated the strike when the team required some quick runs. The duo could add only 39 runs and by the time the match got over, more than half the Indian supporters left the stadium disappointed with their approach. Even the commentators were frustrated to see the way they batted and had some harsh words for both the players.

Nasser Hussain lamented the fact that the contest between the top two teams in the world was ending tamely and clearly took a dig at MS Dhoni for not playing his shots.

“I am completely baffled. What’s going on! This is not what India needed. They need runs. What are they doing? Some Indian fans are leaving now. Surely they must want to see Dhoni go for his shots, even if he slogs it off in the air. It’s a World Cup game, top 2 sides, give it a go! Indian fans would want their side to do a little bit more. They want their side to go down with a fight. Risk it to win it,” he said while commentating.

I have no explanation, says Ganguly

Sourav Ganguly was on air commentating with the former England cricketer and he too didn’t mince any words. Rather he went on to say that a team chasing a total as high as 338 can’t have five wickets in hand and lose the game comfortably.

“I don’t have an explanation for that. You asked me the question but I can’t explain these singles. It’s also the length and the bounce that has deceived the Indian batsmen. You can’t be chasing 338 and still have 5 wickets in the end. It’s about mindset and the way you look at the game. The message had to be clear: no matter where it comes and no matter where the ball lands you have to find the boundary. A dot ball at this stage!” Ganguly further said.

As far as the World Cup is concerned, the loss hasn’t hurt India much as they still have two matches to play against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka and need to win only one of them to guarantee a semi-final spot.