After crashing out of the ICC T20 World Cup with a 10-wicket loss to England at the Adelaide Oval, captain Rohit Sharma felt the performance with the ball let them down and credited the opening pair of Jos Buttler and Alex Hales for being clinical in their chase.Hales hit 86 not out off 47 balls while Buttler smacked an unbeaten 80 off 49 balls, hitting 10 sixes and 13 fours collectively, to chase down the 168/6 posted by India. England won with four overs remaining to book a final with Pakistan at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday.
"It's pretty disappointing how we turned up today. I thought we still batted pretty well at the back end to get to that score, but we were not good enough with the ball. It was definitely not a wicket where a team can come and chase it down in 16 overs. With the ball we didn't turn up today."
"The way we started with the ball was not ideal. We were a little nervy, but you have to give credit to the openers as well. They played really well. When Bhuvi bowled the first over it swung today, but not from the right areas," said a disappointed Rohit in the post-match presentation ceremony.
Rohit opined that India wanted to keep things tight with the ball and prevent England from scoring in short square areas. But that didn't happen as Hales and Buttler never let the bowlers settle down at all, along with the fielding being sloppy in a crunch match.
"We wanted to keep it tight, not give room, because square of the wicket was an area we were aware of - that's where the runs came today. If we keep it tight and the batsman still score runs, we'll take it. But we didn't do that today. In the game against Bangladesh it was tricky as well, but I thought we held our nerve that day, executed well," he added.
The thrashing also meant that India's hoodoo in the knockout matches of a World Cup was extended to eight years. "When it comes to knockout stages, it's all about handling the pressure. Depends on the individual as well. You can't teach anyone to handle pressure. When these guys play the play-offs in the IPL and all that, those are high-pressure games, and they're able to handle it," signed off Rohit.