Prominent bowler Josh Hazlewood refused to believe that Virat Kohli’s drop catch was the decisive moment in Australia’s World Cup opener against India in Chennai. Many think that the former Indian captain’s squandered opportunity ultimately influenced the outcome of the match.
India’s top-order batting fell early in the game, putting the team’s performance in jeopardy before Virat Kohli and KL Rahul stabilised the Indian innings.
During a vital point in the game, Kohli top-edged a pull to square leg. Mitchell Marsh, on the other hand, was unable to take the catch.
Speaking at the post-match conference, Josh Hazelwood said that the dropped catch of Virat Kohli wasn’t a significant moment in the game as they felt the ball was still doing much in the air and off the wicket.
The bowler implied that the Australians thought they had a chance as long as Kohli and Rahul’s partnership grew and he was overall happy with the performance of the team with the ball.
“No, I don’t think so, it was quite early obviously when that catch was dropped but we still felt that new ball was doing enough, whether it was in the air or off the wicket. We knew that spin was going to be tough to play, maybe not as tough as during the day, but still enough to play it.
“And we certainly felt in the game for quite a while until obviously the partnership grew and grew and they sort of batted us out of it obviously. And yeah, I thought we did a reasonable job early in particular trying to defend 200,” Josh Hazelwood said.
The Men in Blue has lost in similar situations, especially in crucial matches, but Virat Kohli and KL Rahul fought to keep the innings alive.
I Think It Was Mitch’s Catch And Probably Just Carey Got Quite Close In The End – Josh Hazelwood
Josh Hazlewood speculated that Mitchell Marsh may have been turned off by the presence of the Australia wicketkeeper-batter Alex Carey getting close to him. He emphasised the players put on hard work in the practice session and he backed the team to come good in the impending games of the World Cup.
“No, I didn’t think Carey could get there. I think it was Mitch’s catch and probably just Carey got quite close in the end so it might have just put Mitch off. Yeah, he dropped a catch, it’s one of those things that happens and everyone’s training hard and working hard off the field to hang on to them. So, yeah, we’ll continue on,” Josh Hazelwood added.
Australia had a poor outing with the bat on a tricky Chepauk wicket, as they lost wickets in the middle overs to put themselves in deep trouble.
However, the new-ball bowlers brought them back into the game by picking quick wickets, before KL Rahul and Virat Kohli played a match-winning knock on Sunday.