Indian captain Rohit Sharma has revealed the team never had any doubts about Virat Kohli even when the latter was not batting at his absolute best. Kohli continued his splendid form as he scored another match-winning knock of 64 runs off just 44 balls against Bangladesh in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2022 at Adelaide Oval on Wednesday.
Rohit feels Virat was always there and it was a matter of one or two innings before he was hitting his top game. Kohli had waltzed back into form in the Asia Cup when he scored 276 runs in five matches at an average of 92 and a strike rate of 147.59.
Subsequently, he performed consistently against Australia and South Africa in the bilateral home series. Kohli has been at his absolute best in the ongoing T20I showpiece as he has returned with scores of 82*, 62*, 12, and 64* in the four matches. He has amassed 220 runs in four matches at an average of 220 and a strike rate of 144.74 and he is currently the leading run-getter of the tournament.
Furthermore, Kohli also went past Mahela Jayawardene’s record for most runs in T20 World Cup. Kohli has now mustered 1065 runs in the T20I showpiece while the former Sri Lankan captain had scored 1015 runs in the tournament.
Rohit Sharma also lauded KL Rahul, who came back among the runs as he scored a fine knock of 50 runs off just 32 balls. Moreover, India’s fielding was right on the money against Bangladesh after a disappointing show against South Africa.
Rohit said in the post-match presentation, “In my opinion he was always there, it was a matter of few innings here and there, he got it in the Asia Cup. We never had any doubts and the way he has been batting in this World Cup has been tremendous and he is really doing it for us [on Kohli]. Also liked the way how KL played today. We know what sort of a player he is, if he bats the way he can, he puts the team in a different position. Our fielding was brilliant, some of the catches we took was great to watch. It’s a high-pressure game, to take those catches shows the ability of our guys and honestly I never had any doubts about our fielding.”
Sharma also showered praise on Arshdeep Singh who defended 20 runs off the final over against Nurul Hasan and Taskin Ahmed. Singh was put under pressure after he was smoked for a six on the second ball he bowled but he was able to nail his yorkers.
Rohit added, “Bit of both. I was calm and nervous at the same time. It was important for us as a group to stay calm and execute our plans. With 10 wickets in hand, it could’ve gone either way but after the break, we did well. When he came into the scene [on Arshdeep], we asked him to do that for us. With Bumrah not there, someone has to do it for us, and take the responsibility, for such a young guy to come and do it is not easy. But we prepared him for it. For the last 9 months, he has been doing it. There was a choice betweeen Shami and him but we backed someone who did the job for us previously.”
India will next take on Zimbabwe at the MCG on Sunday.
