Adelaide: India captain Rohit Sharma heaped praise on Virat Kohli after his match-winning 64 against Bangladesh in their T20 World Cup 2022 Super 12 match in Adelaide on November 2.
Kohli top-scored once again with a 44-ball 64 as India won a hard-fought thriller to top the Group 2 table and boost their semi-final hopes.
Speaking on the crucial match against Bangladesh, Rohit Sharma said he always believed Virat Kohli was in good rhythm and was backing his teammate to get the job done. Rohit said he is not surprised by Kohli’s form in T20 World Cup 2022.
Virat Kohli hit his 3rd fifty of the tournament and took his tally to 220 runs from 4 matches. He overtook Netherlands’ Max O’Dowd’s tally of 213 runs. It was also a historic knock in Kohli’s career as the former captain became the leading run-getter in T20 World Cup history. Kohli took his tally to 105 runs, overtaking Sri Lanka’s Mahela Jayawardene on the elite list.
Kohli’s 64 not out helped India post 184 for 6 in 20 overs after which Arshdeep Singh and Hardik Pandya led a fine bowling effort to help clinch a 5-run win in a rain-affected match in Adelaide.
“In my opinion, he was always there, it was a matter of a 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,” Rohit said.
Rohit also heaped praise on KL Rahul, saying the vice-captain’s fifty was important for him as well as the team. Rahul was going through a lean patch and his place in the side was questioned after he managed just 22 runs in the first 3 matches of the T20 World Cup.
However, Rahul came out all guns blazing, hitting a 31-ball 50, including 4 sixes, as he set up a solid platform for India. Rahul got the backing of head coach Rahul Dravid on Tuesday and he delivered with the bat in the crunch match.
“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,” he added.
Rohit conceded that he was nervous during the final moments of the chase as Taskin Ahmed and Nurul Hasan took the game down to the last over with their big hits at the end.
Litton Das came up stunning 21-ball 50 and put Bangladesh ahead of the DLS par score when rain interrupted the match at the end of the 7th over of the chase. However, it was Rahul who ran Litton out after the match resumed with a 4-over reduction.
“it 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,” Rohit added.