Indian captain Rohit Sharma was happy with the batting performance against Hong Kong in the fourth match of the Asia Cup 2022 on Wednesday but admitted they could have done slightly better with the ball after they won by 40 runs. India posted an above-par score of 192 runs after Suryakumar Yadav scored a blistering knock but India conceded 152 runs against Hong Kong.
The two young Indian pacers – Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan – were expensive in their respective spells and they were collectively taken for 97 runs, which was disappointing. Khan conceded 53 runs in his quota of four overs while Singh was taken for 44 runs in the allotted four overs.
On the other hand, the Indian spinners – Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravindra Jadeja – were right on the money. The duo conceded 33 runs in the eight overs they bowled collectively.
Rohit Sharma said in the post-match presentation, “We batted pretty well to start with, got to a perfect score. Came out and bowled reasonably well, we could have done slightly better with the ball.”
Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma heaped praise on Suryakumar Yadav for his brilliant knock of 68 runs off just 26 balls. SKY was able to get going from the word go and showed great improvisation in his shot-making. The right-hander scored six fours and as many sixes and played at the top of his game.
Rohit added, “The kind of innings SKY played today, the words will be short. We have seen that with him every now and then. He comes up with suck kinds of knocks. He just comes out and bats fearlessly which is what the team expects from him. Some of the shots he played today, those are not written anywhere in the book. It was very pleasing to watch. Shot selection was also crucial. We know he can play all around the park. We have also informed the group about this (flexibility in the batting order) as well. Most of the guys are ready to take the opportunity and be ready to bat wherever required. That’s the flexibility we need. We’ll take those chances. We are going to try and use the right match-ups.”
After this win, India has qualified for the Super Four of the tournament and will likely face Pakistan (if they beat Hong Kong on Friday) again on Sunday, which will be another interesting contest.
