‘I Was Nervous..,’ Rohit Sharma Hails Kohli, Rahul For Overcoming AUS In World Cup 2023 Opener
Rohit Sharma with Jasprit Bumrah, Virat Kohli in 2023 World Cup (AP)
India’s star-studded top-order, featuring captain Rohit Sharma, makeshift opener Ishan Kishan and number four Shreyas Iyer all fell for ducks against Australia’s new-ball attack in Chennai. Shattered and bruised at 2-3, charismatic Virat Kohli staged a rebellious match-winning partnership with KL Rahul to guide India home in their opening match of the 2023 World Cup.
After the match, captain Sharma praised Kohli and Rahul for their sublime run-chase specials, and admitted a sense of nervousness upon witnessing team’s top-order jitters in their high-profile World Cup game.
Rohit Sharma admits he was nervous upfront
During the post-match presentation, Rohit Sharma expressed his delight as Team India pocketed their two points upfront to kick-off their World Cup 2023 campaign on a high note. The legendary cricketer praised team’s collective fielding efforts, and also commended the all-out spin assault from Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav for restricting Australia to just 199 in their innings. He said:
“Pretty exciting. Good feeling to come out on top. It was a good game to start the tournament for us. I thought it was magnificent, especially the fielding and we saw the effort from everyone today, conditions like this it would be tough. 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.”
Rohit Sharma also admitted that he felt nervous upon team’s top-order failure against Australia’s new-ball attack in their modest run-chase. The legendary opener further credited Virat Kohli and KL Rahul for unfurling suave run-chase knocks amidst tense pressure to take their team past the finishing line.
“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 Kohli and KL Rahul on how they went about the chase.”
With a win upfront, the Rohit Sharma-led Indian team will now face Afghanistan for their subsequent World Cup 2023 challenge on October 11. Their much-awaited match-up will be played out at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.
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