ICC T20 World Cup 2022: 'We Couldn't Even Send Rishabh Pant Despite Saying He Is An X-factor'- Aakash Chopra Praise England's Role Clarity
Published - 14 Nov 2022, 01:33 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:14 AM
Role clarity has been cited by Aakash Chopra as a factor in England’s victory at the T20 World Cup in 2022. To support his claim, he mentioned India’s failure to utilise Rishabh Pant in the semi-finals according to his predetermined batting role.
On November 13, England defeated Pakistan in Melbourne by a margin of five wickets to win the game’s shortest format’s second global championship. With an over remaining, they chased down the just-below-par target after limiting Babar Azam and company to 137/8.
There Was Role Clarity In England’s Team: Aakash Chopra
In a video posted to his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra cited the English team’s success as being due in part to its players’ clear roles. He explained:
“There was role clarity. Dawid Malan was the No. 1 T20I batter in the ICC rankings sometime back. They said it’s fine if he doesn’t get to bat. Will we (India) do that with anyone? We couldn’t even send Pant despite saying he is an X-factor.”
The former Indian cricketer emphasised that all other England batters were aware that Alex Hales and Jos Buttler might outscore them. He observed:
“Everyone from No. 1 to No. 7 knows that whoever plays in the powerplay will have chances to score more runs and that they might become the glory boys – Buttler and Hales will score more than 200 runs if you talk about the World Cup.”
The other players, according to Aakash Chopra, didn’t mind being well down the run-scoring statistics. He stated:
“The others are not scoring 125 also, but they are saying it’s okay because your role is not towards that 200. It does not matter if you want to be the highest run-scorer, because there is no value in that. That clarity of thought is incredible.”
The top two run scorers for England in the competition were Buttler (225) and Hales (212). None of the other English players scored more than 60 runs, although Ben Stokes amassed 110 runs overall.
Role Clarity Is Absolutely Imperative In T20 Cricket: Aakash Chopra
Aakash Chopra emphasised that role clarity gave England an advantage over the opposition. He reasoned:
“In my opinion, role clarity is absolutely imperative in T20 cricket. The other teams react to a situation, but they say that they will send you in that situation only for a particular role. Your job becomes easier if you know where and how you need to go because you don’t have time to think in T20.”
The well-known commentator used Sam Curran as an example to support his argument. He emphasised how the seam bowler, who may not have been as effective on smaller grounds like the Wankhede Stadium, was very successful as a death bowler on enormous Australian grounds with his short deliveries and wide yorkers.
Also Read:PAK vs ENG: Sam Curran Admits IPL Helped Him To Deliver On Big Occasions
