India’s Rohit Sharma, right, is congratulated by captain Virat Kohli on scoring a century. (Source: AP)Skipper Virat Kohli was full of praise for the vice-captain Rohit Sharma after India advanced to the knockout stage of ICC World Cup 2019 with a 28 run win over Bangladesh. Kohli said that Rohit was the ‘best One-day player around.’
With this century “The Hitman” became the first Indian batsmen to score four centuries in a single World Cup edition. After the match, Kohli said, “I have been watching it for years now. He’s (Rohit) the best One-day player around and we are so delighted to see him. When he plays like that, everybody is happy to see him strike this so well.”
Jasprit Bumrah was brilliant, finishing with four wickets in his quota of 10 overs. “He’s a world-class bowler and he just knows what he’s up against. We can look to capitalize on situations where we are in a position to score those extra 30 runs. Very happy with the way the team has played so far.” Said Kohli.
“It’s good to have qualified on the points table now. This will keep us in a good frame of mind going into the semi-finals,” he said.
However, Kohli admitted that going in with just five bowlers was ‘a gamble’ but it was done keeping in mind the ‘ground conditions.’ “Look, we experienced that Hardik (Pandya) when put under pressure has come back really well. He’s really looking forward to do stuff for the team. He has a gut feel of what the batsman is looking to do,” he said. “I know five bowlers was a gamble, but it was keeping in mind the ground dimensions. We wanted to play the perfect combination for the small boundary.”
Man of the match Rohit Sharma was dropped on 9 by Tamim Iqbal and the 32-year-old opener made use of that chance. Rohit scored 104 runs 92 deliveries and admitted to being lucky early in his innings after he was dropped. “I was lucky (early on)…fortune favors the brave. I never think about the shorter boundaries when I bat, because my game is all about piercing the field. Once you are set, the idea is to put pressure on the bowlers.”
Bangladesh’s skipper was happy with the team effort but termed Rohit Sharma’s drop catch as disappointing. “If one of them could have been 80-90, it could have been a different match,” Mortaza said.
Bangladesh are now Out of the World Cup but Mortaza wants to end on a high with a win over Pakistan in their last league game.
“We have played our best, and fans have been fantastic. Hopefully, we will end on a good note,” he said.
