India took a major step towards qualifying for the semi-finals of the 2022 T20 World Cup on Sunday (November 6) and also sealing top spot in the group. The Rohit Sharma-led side won the game against Zimbabwe by 71 runs at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) to wrap up their campaign in the Super 12 stage of the tournament.
Suryakumar Yadav was the star of the show as he helped India put up a massive total of 184 on the board after winning the toss and batting. Suryakumar scored an unbeaten 25-ball 61 after KL Rahul also made a half-century. With the ball, the Indian pacers wreaked havoc as Zimbabwe lost five wickets in less than eight overs. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Arshdeep Singh took one wicket each while Mohammed Shami and Hardik Pandya chipped in with two scalps. Later, Ravichandran Ashwin wrapped things in style with a three-wicket haul.
The display came as a source of huge relief to Ashwin as he had only picked three wickets in four games before this game in the tournament. However, 1983 Cricket World Cup-winner Kapil Dev was not impressed with Ashwin’s display and stated that the player himself was embarrassed on picking the wickets. Kapil claimed that bringing Yuzvendra Chahal instead of Ashwin could surprise England in the semi-finals.
Until now, Ashwin hasn’t given me confidence. He picked up wickets today but it didn’t look as if he got them. In fact, batsmen iss tarah out huye ki unhe khud bhi 1-2 wickets lete huye sharam aa rahi thi (Some of the batsmen got out in a way that Ashwin himself couldn’t believe it). He was hiding his face. Picking up wickets obviously gives you that confidence but the Ashwin we know, we haven’t seen him show the same rhythm,” said Kapil on ABP News.
“It depends on the team management. If they have the confidence in Ashwin, it’s good. He has played the entire tournament so he can adjust if need be. But if you want to surprise the opposition, they can always turn to the wrist-spinner (Chahal). Whoever wins the confidence of the management and captain, will play,” Kapil concluded.
Ashwin has played a crucial role with the bat for Team India as he scored the winning runs for the Men in Blue in the last-ball thriller against Pakistan. The veteran all-rounder also played a vital cameo against Bangladesh that saw him score 13 runs in just six balls.
