Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra hailed Rohit Sharma’s knock after India’s comprehensive win of 68 runs against England at the Providence Stadium, Guyana on Thursday. Asked to bat first by Jos Buttler, India lost the early wickets of Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant.
However, Rohit Sharma continued his rich form, getting to his 32nd T20I fifty off just 36 balls. Rohit scored 57 runs off 39 balls with the help of six fours and two sixes.
The talisman also added 73 runs off 50 balls with Suryakumar Yadav for the third wicket. Yadav scored an impressive knock of 47 runs off 36 balls and the right-handed duo helped India in posting 171 runs on the board.
“England were beaten up in Rohit Sharma’s laundry this time. He cleaned them up properly and the Indian team shone. We haven’t lost even one game and have reached the final. England were shown the road home,” Aakash Chopra said on YouTube Channel.
Chopra noted that India got a above-par score of 171 runs on a slow pitch as a target of even 150 was going to be challenging.
“England won the toss and opted to bowl first and I was elated that they had done a great job because I felt if the Indian team reached 130-140, they would win, and if they reached 155, it would be 15-20 runs extra, and India reached 171. Then they defeated the opposing team by such a huge margin. Who started it – Rohit Sharma,” Chopra observed.
The renowned commentator hailed Rohit for knocking out Australia after India’s 24-run win in the last Super 8 match. Rohit continued his impressive form against England and once again got the job done for the team.
“Just think about it, the first match against Ireland, he scored a fifty there as well. Then the last match against Australia, he scored 92 runs there, how well he hit. If he hadn’t scored those many runs, we couldn’t have beaten Australia, although it wouldn’t have mattered to us as we would have finished No. 1 but we might have faced Australia in the final. Here he sent England home,” he added.
India will take on South Africa in the all-important final at the Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados on Saturday.
