One could see it coming. Although India were undefeated in World Cup 2019, there were enough chinks visible in the games against Afghanistan and West Indies to suggest that England could exploit India’s weaknesses, especially if they batted first and put up a big score on the board. As things panned out, the script went perfectly according to plan for the hosts, and India were found wanting in the area that has been their Achilles heel for the past year.
Some critics would obviously point out to the fact that India were 28 for 1 after 10 overs, and the game was lost there. However, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli did exceedingly well to lift India to 146 for 2 in the 29th over. Still, the task for Kedar Jadhav and MS Dhoni was too steep, and England’s excellent bowling made it extremely difficult at the end. India skipper Virat Kohli admitted that England exploited conditions better but also stated that India would assess the defeat.
