BIRMINGHAM: Former England captain Nasser Hussain was baffled to see Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav’s approach during India’s chase of 338 against England during their World Cup game here at Edgbaston and his once upon a time counterpart Saurav Ganguly too had no words to defend what was happening in the middle.

India ended up losing by 31 runs to England in Birmingham — their first defeat in this World Cup but the manner of it has left half the cricket fraternity shocked.

Dhoni and Jadhav faced 31 balls and played out 7 dots, ran 20 singles and hit only one maximum and three boundaries.

Seeing this unfolding, Hussain and Ganguly were left utterly shocked and slammed the approach taken by the Indians in the stiff but gettable chase on a flat track on Sunday.

“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,” said Hussain during his commentary stint during the last stages of the Indian innings.

Ganguly too seemed surprised by India’s approach and said that having five wickets in hand and still ending up playijng dots was strange.

Ganguly, who was doing the same along with the former England captain, was equally shocked at the approach of Dhoni and Jadhav towards the fag end of the innings.

“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 five 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,” said Ganguly.

INDIA’S SPORTSMAN SPIRIT QUESTIONED

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s fast bowling legend Waqar Younis has questioned the sportsmanship of Virat Kohli’s men following their loss to England in the World Cup.

“It’s not who you are...What you do in life defines who you are...Me not bothered if Pakistan gets to the semis or not but one thing is for sure...Sportsmanship of few champions got tested and they failed badly,” said Waqar on Twitter.

Ex-New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori also criticised the stance adopted by Dhoni and Jadhav.

“I also thought Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav didn’t have the right intent. I was expecting to see them clearing their front leg and trying to hit sixes every ball but they were just nurdling it around. ‘They had to go all out to try and win the game. It didn’t matter if they lost at that point because it felt like they were going to lose anyway,” Vettori said.

Brendon McCullum, another New Zealand captain, was also surprised by India’s unusual batting display in the end at Edgbaston.

“It was bizarre. These [Indian] guys have finished games so many times before and from harder positions. They didn’t really play a shot towards the end,” McCullum told Sky Sports. “Credit to England, they bowled well and held their nerve. But it was bizarre and an anti-climax. We all expected a tight finish but India’s big finale never came.”

Published in Dawn, July 2nd, 2019