World Cup Social Pavilion: India's lack of 'intent' against England criticised; special praise for Jasprit Bumrah

On a day that was meant to be much more than India taking on England, Virat Kohli and Co tried all they could and ultimately failed to win a closely fought contest. A win for India meant Sri Lanka and Pakistan would stay in contention. A loss for India meant Sri Lanka were out of contention for a spot in the semifinals and Pakistan were all but out of the semifinal spot too. The match had more at stake for Pakistan than for India. Some Indians made their love know for the neighbours.

This Indian fan told me that his second fav team is Pakistan & he really wants India to face Pakistan in the #CWC19 final. ☺️ pic.twitter.com/h4zTA8eci6

— Ihtisham Ul Haq (@iihtishamm) June 30, 2019

At Edgbaston, the majority of the crowd were Indian fans. And so, before the match, the ICC felt that majority opinion was that India would win the match.

In the stadium and outside of it, Birmingham was buzzing with Indians. The support was electric ahead of the big match.

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Michael Vaughan did hold a mirror to this issue of the home team not getting enough support in the stadium.

So far we have counted 86 England fans at Edgbaston .. Including the team & management .. #CWC19

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) June 30, 2019

And Kevin Pietersen was back to orchestrating the ‘England will win the World Cup’ campaign.

Then came the England batting which plundered India’s bowling. Roy, Bairstow and Stokes took India’s bowlers to the cleaners.

14 sixes were hit in yesterday's #CWC19 clash between England and India. The tournament's hosts accounted for 13 👀

The best ones feature in @bira91 Super Sixes! pic.twitter.com/QEzDYlQbkR

— ICC (@ICC) July 1, 2019

Jasprit Bumrah was the only bright spot in an otherwise lacklustre performance.

On a batting paradise, @Jaspritbumrah93 finished with figures of 10-1-44-1.

Well done, Boom Boom Bumrah 👏👏

Follow Live: https://t.co/e0MgzGmnY6#ENGvIND #CWC19 pic.twitter.com/oJX48ySnrt

— Firstpost Sports (@FirstpostSports) June 30, 2019

Bumrah might still be relatively new in his cricketing journey but he is already making a strong claim for India’s best death bowler.

Bumraaaah. The best death bowler India has ever produced?? Zaheer will close....who else?? #CWC19 #EngvInd

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) June 30, 2019

Trying to work out how you would describe Bumrah’s bowling to someone who hasn’t seen him.

Run up is like a stuttering mid-90s Wasim.

Action is like an upright Malinga.

Bounce is like Curtly Ambrose.

Yorkers like Darren Gough.

— Peter Miller (@TheCricketGeek) June 30, 2019

The Indian batting tried all they could (or maybe not) to chase this steep total but ended up falling short by 31 runs. The chase in the final overs was subject to a lot of criticism from everyone with MS Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav not showing enough ‘intent’. Soon after the match, there were some conspiracy theories that were floated around by former cricketers and fans. And blame games eventually followed.

It's not who you are.. What you do in life defines who you are.. Me not bothered if Pakistan gets to the semis or not but one thing is for sure.. Sportsmanship of few Champions got tested and they failed badly #INDvsEND #CWC2019

— Waqar Younis (@waqyounis99) June 30, 2019

Pakistan wanted India to win, just like India wanted Pakistan to win in the Champions Trophy 2009. Both didn't happen. PAK lost then and IND lost today. It is sports. Teams play for themselves not for others. So, stop digging conspiracy theories. #CWC19

— Mazher Arshad (@MazherArshad) June 30, 2019

In yesterday's #INDvENG match, #Pandya and #Dhoni had the best strike rate.. 136 and 135..

Despite, a 6+ asking run rate from 1st over, #Kohli 's SR is 86 and #Rohit 's SR is 93..

Noone is blaming #Kohli and #Rohit..

Same way, don't blame #Dhoni - He can't have 300 as his SR!

— Ramesh Bala (@rameshlaus) July 1, 2019

Conspiracy or not, we will never be sure but Harbhajan Singh joined the growing list of cricketers taking to YouTube to voice their opinions.

A minor setback for #India ahead of the business end of #CWC19. We shall sail through to the semi finals. Well played both teams. #INDvENG https://t.co/x2CT5JDw9C

— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) June 30, 2019

Shoaib Akhtar, after some controversy for his words on the Afghanistan cricket team, is still going strong on YouTube.

India had the potential of playing much better.
Watch the full video on my YouTube channel: https://t.co/FbPH3hEEUM#CWC19 #INDvENG #indiavsEngland pic.twitter.com/07lXRejw7g

— Shoaib Akhtar (@shoaib100mph) July 1, 2019

  India might have lost the match yesterday but India’s vice-captain and centurion was his usual nonchalant self at the post-match press conference.

Vice-captain @ImRo45 lightened up the post-match press conference when asked about Rishabh Pant 😁😁 #TeamIndia #ENGvIND #CWC19 pic.twitter.com/NSv3zVqFT3

— BCCI (@BCCI) June 30, 2019

World Cup rolls on and is back to Durham where Sri Lanka will take on West Indies in another league stage match. Another way to look at this match is that it will be the 1996 champions taking on the winners of 1975 & 1979.

1996 winners v 1975 & 1979 champions.

Who wins in Durham today?#SLvWI | #CWC19 pic.twitter.com/c1ZgJ9ezbC

— ICC Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) July 1, 2019

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