ICC World Cup 2019: Ganguly comes down hard on Shastri after semi-final loss

Former Team India skipper Sourav Ganguly has criticized India’s head coach Ravi Shastri after India’s shocking exit from World Cup 2019. India suffered a loss against New Zealand by 18 runs in the first semi-final. Opting to bat first, New Zealand set a modest total of 239 but India fell short of the target and were bowled out for 221.

India’s top order couldn’s rise to the occasion and India were down to 5 for 3. India kept losing wickets and the scoreboard read 92 for 6 when Jadeja came to bat. He played an outstanding knock of 77 runs off 59 balls to help India put a fight but he lost his wicket to Santner.

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Sourav Ganguly said that team India should have sent Dhoni ahead of Karthik. According to him, India needed an experienced player to provide them some stability in the middle. However, the likes of Hardik Pandya and Dinesh Karthik were sent ahead of Dhoni and this move probably cost them the game.

“Dhoni should have walked ahead of Dinesh Karthik. He wouldn’t have let Rishabh Pant play that shot. You would have Pandya and Karthik in the back end of the innings along with Ravindra Jadeja. I cannot understand what the coach was thinking but I believe it was a huge blunder.“

“Dhoni must have come up in the order. We needed his composure and his batting the most at that particular point. He would not have let wickets fall the way they did. Had Dhoni been there on the crease, he would not have let Pant play that shot against the breeze. You cannot send Dhoni at number seven,” he added.

New Zealand defeated India in the first semi-final as they clinched a spot in the finals. The finals will be played in Lord’s, London.