It's all about keeping calm: Rohit Sharma on India's achilles' heel in ICC knockouts after England hammering

On Thursday (November 10), Team India faced England in the second semi-final of the T20 World Cup 2022 edition. While many had already pinned their hopes on an India-Pakistan final, after the latter entered the summit clash with a win over New Zealand on Wednesday (November 09), Jos Butler & Co. thrashed the Men in Blue by 10 wickets, chasing 169, at the Adelaide Oval, Adelaide. Thus, they have nowset up a final clash with Babar Azam's led Pakistan.

Being asked to bat first, Rohit-led India managed a decent 168 for 6 riding on half-centuries from Virat Kohli (40-ball 50) and Hardik Pandya's 33-ball 63. In reply, it was a listless performance from the Indian bowlers as Jos Butler-Alex Hales' unbeaten 170-run opening stand buried the 2007 champions Down Under. Butler (49-ball 80*) and Hales' (46-ball 87 not out) smashed as many as 23 boundaries to take the Three Lions home with four overs to spare.

After India's defeat, the senior men's team's ICC-title drought continues since 2013. From 2014-2022, India have lost four semi-finals andthree finals. On India's ICC knockouts' achilles' heel, captain Rohit said at the post-match presentation, "Pretty disappointed how it turned up today. We batted well at the backend to get that score. We were not upto the mark with the ball, we couldn't turn up today. It's all about handling the pressure in knockout games. All these guys have played enough to understand that. These guys have played under pressure in IPL games, it's all about keeping calm. We were nervy to start with, but you got to give credit to their openers, they played really well."

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On India's whole campaign, the Hitman opined, "When we won the first game, it showed a lot of character. The game against Bangladesh, it was a tricky one. I thought it was difficult defending 85 runs in 9 overs, but we held our nerve and executed our plans. Couldn't do that today, and when you don't execute your plans, you are in trouble."

India, thus, failed to return with the elusive title despite topping their group. They will now travel to New Zealand for a white-ball series.