New Delhi, March 13: Former cricketers today described India’s dramatic batting collapse in the three-wicket loss to South Africa in a World Cup encounter as bizarre but defended captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni for his decision to give the last over to paceman Ashish Nehra.
India suffered a stunning batting collapse with their last nine wickets falling for a mere 29 runs to be all out for 296. Later, South Africa needed 13 from the last over for a win but Nehra conceded 16 runs from the first four balls as India lost by three wickets.
South African legend Barry Richards blamed Indian batting collapse for the loss.
“It was bizarre and nobody expected such a thing from a batting side like India. I could not imagine at the 40th over that India would not play the whole 50 overs and would be all out for 296,” he said.
—–PTI