India suffered a heartbreaking loss in a do-or-die match against Australia in Women's T20 World Cup on Sunday, which left them on the brink of a group-stage elimination. It will be India's earliest exit in the World Cup since 2016, after which they made at least the semifinals in each of the next three editions of the T20 tournament, including an appearance in the final in 2020.

Harmanpreet Kaur did hold the innings together for India after Shafali Verma gave India an early momentum with a quickfire 13-ball 21. Following a top-order collapse, the captain found able assistance from Deepti Sharma as the pair forged a half-century stand, but the subsequent collapse before the start of the slog overs left Harmanpreet all alone in the battle.

The 35-year-old did score an unbeaten fifty, but in vain as Australia restricted India to 142 for nine in their chase of 152.

Following the loss, as fans on social media were left disgruntled, former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar, who was also present throughout the match in the Hindi commentary for Star Sports, tweeted in support of the Indian team. He hailed the fight back from India, Harmanpreet in particular, and for taking the game deep.

He tweeted: “No other team other than India would have come so close to the big target Aus set on a difficult pitch. I say, well done India! And again what a star Harman is!”

However, the post did not sit well with fans, who lashed out at the cricket expert, labelling it as “total trash” and “insanely delusional.”

Only Pakistan can save India

India are yet to be officially eliminated from the World Cup, as their chances depend on the final Group A match between Pakistan and New Zealand on Monday in Dubai. If Pakistan can beat New Zealand, albeit by a small margin, India will join Australia in the semis. However, if Pakistan get the better of the White Ferns by a massive margin or the latter takes down the Asian side, irrespective of any win margin, India will be eliminated.

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