Kapil Dev has launched an extraordinary attack on the Indian cricket team, labelling them 'chokers' after their recent defeat to England. India faced off with England on Thursday for a place in Sunday's T20 World Cup final against Pakistan.
After setting their opponents 169 for victory, Rohit Sharma's team were blown out of the water by England openers Jos Buttler and Alex Hales. The hard-hitting pair steered England to victory without losing a wicket in a memorable 10-wicket win.
And whilst the mood was high in the England camp post-match, less could be said for the Indians who slumped off the playing field in Adelaide following a dismal effort with the ball.
Sharma's side have found themselves facing plenty of criticism on the back of defeat, and no more so than from Dev. The former India man said: "Yes, the Indian cricket team are chokers. There is no denying it - after coming so close, they choke."
Following the disappointment, captain Sharma gave his thoughts on the defeat and seemingly shared some agreement with Dev by questioning his team's mentality in pressurising situations. He commented: "When it comes to the knockout stages, it's about handling that pressure. It depends on individuals as well.
"You can't really go and teach how to handle pressure. All these guys have played enough cricket to understand that. Yeah, I mean, look, lot of these guys when they come out and play in the playoffs in the IPL and all of that, it's a high-pressure game, some of these guys are able to handle that.
"When it comes to the knockout stages, it's all about handling that pressure. Holding yourself a little bit and keeping calm. I thought the way we started off with the ball was not ideal. That shows we were a little nervy to start off with the ball, but again we've got to give credit to those openers as well, they played really well."
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Sharma also outlined his team's effort with the ball as a key component for their defeat, adding: "We wanted to keep it tight, not give room, we looked at Adelaide pretty well, we know where the runs are scored.
"Square of the wicket is what we were quite aware of, and that's where all the runs went today. Keeping it tight is something we spoke of but from there if the batsman plays a good shot we'll take it. But that is something that didn't happen today and that is a little disappointing."
