England captain Harry Brook took full responsibility after their T20 World Cup 2026 semifinal loss against India on Thursday at the Wankhede Stadium, stating the dropped catch of Sanju Samson was the major turning point in the game. In the final on March 8, India will take on New Zealand at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
The incident came on the third over of the day when Brook dropped a sitter on the second ball off Jofra Archer’s bowling. Batting on 15, Samson went for an aerial drive against a full length delivery from the English pacer. But the bat turned onto Samson’s hand with the ball going straight towards Brook at mid-on. The England captain’s butter fingers gave Samson reprieve.
The dropped catch cost England massively as Samson went on to smash 89 runs off just 42 balls, thus laying the foundation of India’s mammoth 253/7 in 20 overs. In fact, every time Samson hit a boundary, the broadcast cameras would turn to Brook with the Englishman wearing a rejected face.
“I’ll hold my hands up and say that I made a big mistake there, dropping Samson. As the old saying goes, catches win matches, and unfortunately things just didn’t go our way in the field tonight. At the end of the day, it cost us,” Brook said after the game. In the end, England fell seven runs short.
Jacob Bethell earns massive praise
Despite the loss, Brook was all praise for young Jacob Bethell, whose maiden T20I hundred went in vain. Chasing such a mammoth total, Bethell kept England in the game till the last over when he was run out for 105 off just 48 balls. He was run out on the first ball of the final over.
“I think he’s going to earn some serious money in his career and have a fantastic career with England. He showed the world how good he is tonight. That innings is a huge positive to take away from this competition. Seeing him go out there and take the game on from ball one, showing everyone what he can do, it was special,” Brook added.
On the contrary, India were superb on the field. After being criticized heavily for dropping two catches against West Indies, the Indians came up with a much improved fielding show, especially Axar Patel, whose two catches also played a big part in India’s thrilling win.
T Dilip gets Suryakumar Yadav’s pat on the back
Axar’s first brilliance on the field came in fifth over when he ran backwards and kept his eyes on the ball before diving full stretch to catch the ball to send Brook back for single digits. The highlight of India’s fielding came in 14th over when Axar plucked Will Jacks on the run at the boundary line.
Without losing his awareness, Axar reached the ball, and then threw the ball to Shivam Dube while losing balance. That broke the partnership of 77 off 39 balls between Jacks and Bethell. Reacting to the fielding, Suryakumar didn’t shy away from crediting India’s fielding coach T Dilip.
“I think we need to give some credit to our fielding coach Dilip T as well (on India’s superb catching). The way he’s been working with the boys in practice sessions, making them fun and competitive – the boys have responded really well. Even after their personal skill sessions, they put in extra work for the team, and that’s showing on the field,” said the Indian captain.
