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Coach Martino admits Argentina were boring’
Vina del Mar (Chile): Coach Gerardo Martino has admitted his Argentina side were “boring” in the second half of their narrow 1-0 victory over Jamaica in Copa America.
Argentina qualified for the quarter-finals as Group B winners thanks to Gonzalo Higuain’s early goal here on Saturday, but Martino was quick to concede that his team have been far from their best in the competition so far.
“We are lacking effectiveness,” Martino told a post-match press conference on Saturday.
“It is something we took out of the result against Paraguay, but you cannot legislate for players of the ability of ours missing so many chances. The fact we didn’t put the game to bed, coupled with the physical issues we are having towards the end of games, generated uneasiness.”
“I thought we did alright in the first half, getting the early goal and then creating four or five chances to score. We also did well to control Jamaica’s chances to break. But the second half was boring, our ball control was tedious, the movement of the ball was too slow and we generally lacked speed in processing our play.”
Argentina will now play either Ecuador or the third-placed team from Group C on Friday in Vina del Mar in the third quarter-final, and the coach believes the break until then gives his side a chance to replenish their energy reserves.
“We had some good times in the first stage, we have finished third and now we have six days to rest before the quarter-final,” he added.
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Sunil Gavaskar gives his opinion of GT allrounder Rahul Tewatia
The left-handed batsman from Haryana is garnering praise from all quarters for the way he’s finishing games regularly in the most exciting IPL season.
Gavaskar reckons Tewatia’s whirlwind knock in Sharjah (in IPL 2020) where he smashed West Indies pacer Sheldon Cottrell for five sixes in an over, gave him the confidence that he belongs to the big stage.
Speaking on Cricket Live on Star Sports, Gavaskar said, “That assault on Sheldon Cottrell in Sharjah gave him the belief to do the impossible and the confidence that he belongs here. We saw the impossible (he did with the bat) the other day as well. There’s no twitching or touching the pads (which shows a batter’s nervousness) when he bats in the death overs. He just waits for the ball to be delivered and plays his shots. He’s got all the shots in the book, but most importantly his temperament to stay cool in a crisis is brilliant.”
Gavaskar has also nicknamed the 28-year-old cricketer the ‘ice-man’ and lauded Tewatia’s ability to remain unruffled during the tense moments.