Indian captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid have both come out in support of struggling Virat Kohli, saying that the stylish batsman has shown determination and that they expect him to do a big one against South Africa in the final of T20 World Cup.
However, despite being the leading scorer in IPL this season with 741 runs, Kohli has scored only 75 runs from seven innings so far and that is not a big contribution to his team.
“You know Virat is such a player that when you play an adventurous kind of game sometimes it doesn’t come off,” said Dravid after India made it into the final following their 68-run win over England in the semis at Georgetown, Guyana.
“But again today I thought he hit a really good six. To set the tempo but he was just unlucky that the ball seemed a little bit more. But I love the intent, I love the way he went about doing it.
“And for some reason, I don’t want to jinx it but I think there’s a big one coming up. He’s my favourite cricketer who plays with aggression on field –he’s committed about which I’m happy.”
Rohit also backed Kohli to come good in Saturday’s final according to PTI.
“He is a quality player. Every player goes through such bad patches. But again we do understand his brilliance and these kinds of games are very important for us.”
“Form is never an issue because when you have played cricket for 15 years form is never an issue . I thought he looked good; intent-wise he has been really positive while batting; maybe even saving himself for finals?”
With three fifties and 248 runs so far as captain, Rohit becomes first player to lead India into third ICC global event decider within less than twelve months after having done so at WTC-2023 and ODI World Cup.
Speaking about Rohit’s exploits, Dravid said: “Whatever I say will fall short. The way he has worked with the team, his strategy, his maturity, the team’s response to him. And the time he spends in strategy, planning, discussion with all of us.
“I can’t speak highly enough about him as a cricketer and also as a person.”
Rohit felt that winning a match with the help of team work was really satisfying even though his own contribution mattered too.
“I thought we adapted to the conditions really well. The conditions were little bit challenging. We had to adapt and that’s been our success story so far. Till this game we’ve been adapting well to the conditions,” he said.
According to Rohit Sharma at some point he believed 140-150 runs is what they needed but later changed his decision regarding it.
“Then we said OK another 20-25 runs more. But again you know I can set the target in my mind but I don’t want to let anyone know about it also because they are all instinct players.
“We got to 170 which I believe was very good on that wicket. And then bowlers were fantastic.”
The Mumbai born cricketer also had high praise for Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav who took six wickets together.
“…I thought they were very calm. They just knew what to bowl. And first after the first innings we had a little chat, we said try as much as you can to hit the stumps, keep the stumps in play and that’s exactly what they did,” he said.
In relation to India’s last heartbreak at the ODI showcase seven months ago, Rohit pointed out that composure is more important than anything else currently.
“…We’ve got to keep making good decisions throughout the 40 overs and that will help us making the game through and I thought also in this game as well we were very steady, we were very calm. We didn’t panic too much.
“We’ll try our best; that’s all I can say. The team is well position; they are playing well. All I hope is another good show come finals.”
T20 World Cup: India hammer England to book final clash with South Africa
Kuldeep Yadav
India thrashed defending champions England by 68 runs in Guyana after Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel took 3 wickets apiece for them and it set up a T20 World Cup final against South Africa.
Axar Patel
England scored 103 all out within 17 overs, chasing down 172 which was set by India with Kuldeep ending with figures of 3-19 and Patel finishing at 3-23.
Rohit Sharma
Captain Rohit Sharma led from the front with a top score of 57 as his side made a total of 171-7 having been put into bat by Jos Buttler of England.
Virat Kohli
Both Kohli (9) and Pant (4) fell cheaply as India was left on 40-2 during their powerplay period.
3rd-wicket stand
But during a rain delay that lasted for more than an hour, Rohit and Suryakumar Yadav (47), his third-wicket partner, put up a fight back with a stand of 73.
Jos Buttler
Jos Buttler provided England’s initial response with 23 in quick time before flying out to the first delivery from Patel while attempting a reverse sweep only to be caught by Pant behind the stumps.
Jasprit Bumrah
The other opener Phil Salt was then bowle by Jasprit Bumrah’s well-conceal slower ball.
Jonny Bairstow
Bairstow was dismiss without scoring by Axar Patel, Moeen fell to Pant. And Curran was lbw to Kuldeep as England slumped to 49-5 after nine overs.
Liam Livingstone
Liam Livingstone was run out for 11 after a horrible mix-up with Jofra Archer. He hit two sixes but Bumrah had him LBW off the last ball of the match.
India vs South Africa
India will now face South Africa – who also beat Afghanistan by 9 wickets in their semi-final. And are yet to lose at this tournament – in Barbados’ final.”
