As India crashed out of the Cricket World Cup following a gripping contest against New Zealand in the semifinals, Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the result as "disappointing" but hailed the Virat Kohli-led team's fighting spirit in the nail-biting thriller. "A disappointing result, but good to see #TeamIndia’s fighting spirit till the very end. India batted, bowled, fielded well throughout the tournament, of which we are very proud. Wins and losses are a part of life. Best wishes to the team for their future endeavours. #INDvsNZ," Modi tweeted. A disappointing result, but good to see #TeamIndia’s fighting spirit till the very end. India batted, bowled, fielded well throughout the tournament, of which we are very proud. Wins and losses are a part of life. Best wishes to the team for their future endeavours. #INDvsNZ — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 10, 2019 The heroics of Ravindra Jadeja went in vain as India lost by 18 runs against Kiwis to get knocked out of the World Cup in the semifinals for the second consecutive time. Chasing a target of 240, India were restricted to 221. Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi also commended India for their performance and hailed the team for putting "up a great fight". Though they’re a billion broken hearts tonight, Team India, you put up a great fight and are deserving of our love & respect. Congratulations to New Zealand on their well earned win, that gives them a place in the World Cup final. #INDvNZ #CWC19 — Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) July 10, 2019 Reflecting on the loss, a dejected Kohli blamed it on 45 minutes of bad cricket. “It always feels disappointing when you have played such good cricket and then 45 minutes of bad cricket puts you out of the tournament,” said Kohli in the post-match press conference.
