India gave left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner "too much respect" after the reserve day's conditions at Old Trafford aided New Zealand in their World Cup semifinal, feels former captain K Srikkanth.
In the semifinal played over two days due to rain, the Black Caps stunned fancied India by 18 runs to reach their second successive World Cup final on Wednesday.
Rain interrupted the match when New Zealand were 211 for five in 46.1 overs after they opted to bat on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, New Zealand added 28 runs to their overnight score to finish at 239 for eight, a total which India found difficult to chase following a top-order collapse in overcast conditions.
"I think because of the rain and the match getting spilled over to a second day, that was in my opinion one of the root causes for the defeat as far as India is concerned," Srikkanth wrote in his column for the ICC.
"The rain and the overcast conditions on the second day meant the wicket helped New Zealand more than India as it was ideal for the bowlers."
"The match then went into a second day and we bowled West Indies out and won the game, so these things do happen when the games move over to the next day because of rain."
"His bowling was fantastic, great batting and great fielding, but he cannot do it on his own and unfortunately, he was left with too much to do in the end."
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