2019 World Cup Semi-Final Defeat Still Haunts Us: KL Rahul
Published - 25 Apr 2020, 07:05 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:05 AM
The 2019 World Cup has got to be one of the most heartbreaking moments for an average Indian cricket fan. The Virat Kohli-led unit came into the tournament as one of the leading contenders and played to their reputation in the league-stage encounter, beating every opposition barring England to finish at the numero-uno spot.
Indian opener KL Rahul, who was a part of the side that lost to the Kane Williamson-led New Zealand at Old Trafford in the 2019 World Cup semi-final in Manchester, in a conversation with sports presenter Suhail Chandok, opened up on that heartbreaking defeat, revealing that that loss still haunts the team.
Rahul, who scored 1 in the 2019 World Cup semi-final added that he still wakes up to that nightmare.
“It has to be the World Cup semi-final. I think most of us are still not over that loss, it still haunts us sometimes. I can’t imagine what the senior players must have felt but you know in a World Cup it just becomes even harder and knowing that we played so well in the entire tournament. Yeah, so, you I still wake up to that nightmare sometimes!” KL Rahul was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.
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India suffered a horrible collapse in the 2019 World Cup semi-final
Coming back to the 2019 World Cup semi-final, New Zealand batted first and on the back of a half-century from Ross Taylor posted 239 in their quota of 50 overs. However, during the New Zealand innings, the heavens opened up and the game went into the second day.
Requiring 240 to win, India got off to the worst possible start as Matt Henry and Trent Boult bamboozled the famed Indian top-3 for a score of 5.
3-5 soon became 4-24 before Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya somewhat repaired the ship. But just as it looked, the storm had passed, a moment of madness from the duo pushed India into a deeper hole, and with the score reading 7-92, all hopes of a miracle hinged on Ravindra Jadeja and Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Jadeja launched a brutal counter-attack and along with Dhoni took India on the footsteps of victory. But once again tragedy struck as Jadeja and then Dhoni were dismissed in successive overs to bring an end to all the hopes of India winning the 2019 World Cup title.
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