India captain Rohit Sharma was seen wiping away tears in many videos circulating on social media as the Men in Blue beat Jos Buttler's England by 68 runs in the second semi-final of the T20 World Cup 2024 on Thursday. Notably, in the last T20 World Cup semi-final between these two teams in 2022, England defeated the Rohit Sharma-led side by 10 wickets in Adelaide.
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In the video circulating on social media, a visibly emotional Rohit can be seen sitting on a chair in what appears to be outside the Indian dressing room as many Indian players including Virat Kohli, Kuldeep Yadav and Arshdeep Singh walk past him.
In Thursday's clash, England won the toss and asked the Men in Blue to bat first in Guyana. During the first innings, India were under pressure as they lost the wicket of opener Virat Kohli in just the third over of the match, followed by the departure of Rishabh Pant during the powerplay.
Suryakumar Yadav and Rohit Sharma then put on a 73-run partnership to take India past the danger line and past the 100-run mark. While the wickets of Rohit and Surya in the 14th and 16th overs respectively put the Men in Blue under some pressure, the lower-order batting, led by Hardik Pandya, ensured that India's total passed the 170-run mark.
In reply, England never looked like winning the match after losing 3 key wickets of Jos Buttler, Phil Salt and Johny Bairstow in the first 6 overs. India's spinners, led by Kuldeep Yadav, then ensured that England never recovered as they were bowled out for 103.
It was an all-round bowling performance from India with Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel taking 3 wickets each while Jasprit Bumrah continued his brilliant form with 2 wickets.
Speaking to the presenters after the semi-final, Rohit said, "Very satisfying to win. Worked very hard as a unit and it was a great effort from all. We adapted really well, conditions were challenging. That's been the success story for us so far. If bowlers and batters adapt, things fall in place," Rohit Sharma said in the post-match presentation ceremony.
"At one stage, 140-150 looked par. But we got runs in the middle, SKY and I were going and thought we can get 20-25 more. 175 was a very good score, bowlers were fantastic. Axar, Kuldeep are gun spinners. Tough to play shots against them in these conditions. They were calm under pressure. We had a chat after the first innings, message was to keep stumps in play. That's what they did. I can set the target in my mind, but I don't want to let anyone know about it, to the batters. They are all instinctive players. I thought 170 was a very good surface."
