Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra hailed Rohit Sharma’s knock against Australia after the team’s 24-run win at the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium, Gros Islet, St Lucia on Monday. India was put into bat by Mitchell Marsh and they also lost the early wicket of Virat Kohli, who was dismissed for a duck.
However, Rohit took the attack to the opposition as he batted at his absolute best. Rohit went on to score 92 runs off just 41 balls with the help of seven fours and eight sixes to help his team post a par score of 205 runs on the board.
“We believe in karma, we believe in Sharma. Sharma ji’s son did an incredible job and caused merriment. He hit incomparable sixes. How well the boy plays and he showed that when he plays, only he plays. He gave the Indian team a rocket-like start and showed the path to go beyond 200,” Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube Channel.
The Indian skipper took Australia gun fast bowler Mitchell Starc for 29 runs and showed no respite. The right-hander raced to a 19-ball fifty as he batted at the top of his game.
“The job Rohit Sharma started doing – unbelievable. The 29 runs he hit off a Mitchell Starc over, which included four sixes, the sixes he is hitting over cover – how? When Rohit Sharma plays, he plays differently,” Chopra observed.
During his knock, Rohit also completed 200 maximums in T20Is and became the first batter to do so. Chopra noted that Rohit bats incredibly well when he plays at the top of his game.
“The best of Rohit Sharma vs the best of anyone in the world, there is a difference. His consistency graph might not be as good as compared to the best in the world right now but when he plays, he plays incredibly well. No one has hit more sixes than him. He has only hit the most sixes against this team,” he said.
“He had reached 92 and was on the verge of the fastest hundred. There was a time when the team had scored 41 and he had scored 40. Kohli had gotten out and Rishabh Pant had scored only one, but this guy was playing with a different force. He batted amazingly well and made India capable of progressing,” Chopra stated.
India will face England in the semifinals at the Providence Stadium, Guyana on Thursday.
