England defeated India by 31 runs and ended their winning streak in ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. While chasing England's target of 338 runs, India fell short by 31 runs. Indian opener Rohit Sharma scored a splendid century but it wasn't enough to take India over the line. While addressing the media after the match, the Indian vice-captain claimed "when you're chasing 330-340, you need that X factor inning from someone and playing that 70 off 30-40 balls. Hardik was looking good but couldn't just go on." India vs England Highlights of ICC World Cup 2019 Match: ENG Beat IND, Stay in Contention for Semi-Finals.

The right-hander took an indirect dig towards Indian lower-order batsmen by praising England All-rounder Ben Stokes. He said: "Stokes batted and changed the game actually. Until then, we were right in the game, restricted them pretty well. We needed somebody like Stokes' innings towards the end to get to that target." ICC Cricket World Cup 2019: Wish Team Management Tells MS Dhoni to Play Run-a-ball, Says Sanjay Manjrekar.

Rohit indirectly took a dig at Hardik Pandya, Rishab Pant and MS Dhoni who failed to take the team over the line. By saying about Stokes's match-changing innings and Pandya's inability to convert his start into a big score, Rohit might well have indicated that the England all-rounder is better than his Mumbai Indians teammate.

The comparison of Pandya and Stokes is not new at all. The two all-rounders have always been in the buzz as both of them are very crucial to their respective sides. Both have also played a great part in the success of their teams. In the encounter against England, Pandya came out to bat at no. 5 and was dismissed in the 45th over by Liam Plunkett after scoring 45 off 33 dēliveries. Dhoni(42* off 31) is already getting bashed on Twitter for his negative intent in the end. While Pant(32 off 29) also got the start but failed to capitalise.

England posted a massive total of 337 runs, courtesy century from Jonny Bairstow and fifties from Jason Roy and Ben Stokes. In reply, apart from Rohit Sharma's ton, skipper Virat Kohli notched up his fifth consecutive 50 plus score but it wasn't enough as the team only managed to score 307 runs and fell short of the target.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 01, 2019 09:48 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).