Mohammad Azharuddin Reacts To Virat Kohli Or Ravi Shastri

India had suffered an eight-wicket defeat against New Zealand in their second encounter of the T20 World Cup 2021. Following India’s humiliating loss, a post-match press conference was held, which was attended by pacer Jasprit Bumrah. He played the best live cricket in that game for the Indian team.

In a related development, former Indian captain Mohammed Azharuddin chastised Ravi Shastri for failing to appear publicly after the unfavourable results. He was already unhappy with poor cricket match that India had played. This added fuel to the fire.

Azharuddin claimed that Shastri should have stepped forth to address the media’s inquiries and accept responsibility. If Kohli does not want to attend, that is OK, but Shastri’s absence was just unacceptable, according to the former captain. He also said that one cannot always attend press conferences after victory, and that these situations should be handled graciously as well.

“In my opinion, the coach should have attended the press conference. It’s OK if Virat Kohli does not want to attend the press conference. Ravi (Shastri) bhai, on the other hand, should have attended the press conference. You can’t only hold press conferences after successes; you also have to explain failures. It was not appropriate to send Bumrah to the press conference. Either the captain or the coach, or someone from the coaching staff, should have gone to the press conference,” Azharuddin told ABP news in a recent interview.

There’s nothing to be embarrassed if you lose a game or two: Mohammad Azharuddin

The former cricketer noted that there is no shame in losing a match or two, but accepting responsibility is essential, and Bumrah cannot be expected to address all of the questions about the team’s performance at the press conference. Azharuddin stated that one should be equally prepared to go ahead through the difficult time.

“There is nothing to be embarrassed of if you lose a game or two, which generally happens with every team. However, the captain or coach must appear in front of the country. He needs to explain why the team lost. How can you expect Bumrah to respond to these queries? If you are willing to face the media when your team triumphs, you should equally be willing to do so when your team is going through a difficult period,” he said.

Could this be a hint for the future captain’s role of the Indian cricket team?

It is a well-known fact that Team India is set to lose their skipper in the T20 format. Virat Kohli is set to relinquish his place as the captain. He will be replaced by an unnamed player within the squad. Someone who can lead the side to better things.

Bumrah is 27 at present and can be the man to lead the pack going forward. Whether it is something related to that or because he was just the best bowler against New Zealand and in the team and he was sent out for that, remains to be seen. However, this could actually be a hint of things to come for the long run.

The decision is yet to be made on who will be the next T20 skipper. However, whoever it is, will be under a lot of pressure to perform. The fans will want results and there is yet another World Cup to be played next year.

The comeback against Afghanistan was perfect but the job is far from done

Team India put in a much-better performance against Afghanistan. They won the game by 66 runs to keep their hopes of being in the tournament alive. It was their first win, after losing the opening two games of the competition to Pakistan and the Kiwis.

This will be a morale booster for the Indian side, who will still want to keep their hopes of making it to the semis alive. The level of performances have to be really good from here on and results have to favour them as well. Afghanistan needs to beat New Zealand for themselves and for the Indian team to have a chance of going through.

However, there is no way that it will be an easy thing to do. The Kiwis did lose their match against Pakistan but have looked really good in the tournament so far. They are serious contenders for the T20 World Cup and the Afghans will really have to play brilliant cricket to get through.