Indian skipper Rohit Sharma gave credit to Virat Kohli and KL Rahul after the team’s six-wicket win against Australia at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on Sunday. Chasing 200 runs, India found themselves under a quagmire at 2-3 after losing the early wickets of Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer.
However, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli were able to weather the storm and played according to the match situation. Both the batters showed maturity in their strokeplay and respected the opposition bowlers when they were on top.
The duo took their time at the crease and batted at the top of their game. Kohli scored his 67th ODI half-century as he scored a gutsy knock of 85 runs off 116 balls with the help of six fours. Rahul, on the other hand, scored a fine knock of 97 runs off 115 balls with the help of eight fours and two sixes. Ergo, he was awarded Player of the match for his unbeaten knock.
The pair added a fine alliance of 165 runs for the fourth wicket and helped India get over the line in their tournament’s opener. Both the batters made the most of their experience and absorbed the pressure with great composure.
Rohit Sharma said in the post-match presentation, “I was nervous, you don’t want to start your innings like that, credit to the Aussies bowlers as they bowled in good areas but some loose shots as well, when you have that kind of target you want to score as much as possible in the powerplay, but credit to Virat and KL on how they went about the chase.”
Rohit Sharma also gave credit to the bowling unit for bundling out Australia at 199 runs. Ravindra Jadeja was the pick of the bowlers as he returned with figures of 3-28 whereas Kuldeep Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah bagged two wickets apiece.
Rohit added, “Our bowlers used the conditions perfectly and we knew there would be assistance for everyone, even the seamers got some reverse, the spinners bowled in the nice areas and all in all it was a great effort.”
India will be up against Afghanistan in their second game of the ODI showpiece, which will be played at Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi on Wednesday.
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