T20 World Cup 2022 latest news: India’s perfect start to the T20 World Cup 2022 campaign came to a grinding halt against South Africa on Sunday. The Men in Blue were defeated by 5 wickets by the Proteas in a match where batting and fielding performance let India down. While defending a low target of 134, India missed crucial chances of comeback due to fielding slip-ups. Ace fielder Virat Kohli dropped a sitter in the outfield leaving everyone stunned. Skipper Rohit Sharma missed an easy underarm run out at the striker’s end.
Pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar hinted that one of the reasons behind the poor outing in the field could be the weather conditions on the day in Perth which hosted the India vs South Africa match. Kumar said that the weather conditions were “very difficult” in Perth, stopping short of explicitly saying it played a role in the loss.
.
"It (cold weather) was very difficult. But honestly, we never talked about that. We knew that we would have to cope with those conditions. And we can’t change those things. We have to go through these conditions or the cold or in the next matches. So, the same thing in Melbourne. But we never talked about that it’s going to be cold or whatever the condition is," Kumar was quoted as saying.
India missed crucial chances when Kohli dropped Aiden Markram at 35 in the 12th over. The South Africa batter went on to score a half-century. India skipper Rohit Sharma missed an easy runout opportunity in the very next over as luck shined brightly over South Africa. Another direct hit was missed by Suryakumar Yadav as India missed the opportunity to runout eventual match-winner David Miller. Bhuvneshwar Kumar opened up on what cost India the match.
"The catches we dropped, or the misses, I think that’s where -- not the moment specifically (where India lost the momentum). But we knew if we could have got those chances, things could have been different. But I think there wasn’t any particular moment where we can say that things shifted towards their side," said Bhuvneshwar.
READ | Virat Kohli privacy breach: Netizens demand action after star batter posts disturbing video
(With inputs from IANS)
