Washed-Out Second T20I A Big Setback For India, Says Sourav Ganguly

Former India skipper Sourav Ganguly feels the washed-out second T20I against Australia is a big setback for the Men in Blue.

After being stunned in the series-opener, India looked set to win the second T20I in Melbourne on Friday. However, their hopes of levelling the series was brutally quashed by heavy downpours. Consequently, Australia continue to lead the series 1-0 after persistent rain washed out the game. The rain arrived heavily in the 19th over of the Australian innings, forcing players to leave. Following that, the players never returned to the field before the umpires called off the game, denying India a chance of levelling the series and Australia an opportunity to win the series.

The abandonment also ended India’s seven-series winning run in T20Is. India can now at best only draw the series. The Men in Blue were well on top before rain played spoilsport.  Right from the start till the rains arrived, India never allowed Australia to score freely. Consequently, Australia were reeling at 132 for 7 at the end of the 19th over.

And Sourav Ganguly believes it was a setback for the visitors.

“It’s a big setback for India as they could have won the match,” Ganguly told IndiaTV.

“India were in a good position to win the match but we can’t do anything about the weather. We don’t have any control over the rain,” he added.

Sourav Ganguly further heaped praise on India’s pacers for their fine work. Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2-20) and Khaleel Ahmed (2-39) shared four wickets to rock the Australian top-order and reduce them to 41-4 at one stage. Australia never recovered from the early setbacks and were well on course to post a below par total before rain arrived.

“Indian bowlers performed well today. Khaleel bowled well too. So, I think it was sad for India that the match got washed out.

“It’s very important to get early wickets, it changes the mindset of the team. If the Indian fielders could have held on to some of the catches, it would have built more pressure on the Aussies. However, I feel that India assessed the conditions well in Melbourne,” Ganguly said.