Oct 24, 2022, 11:23 AM IST
It was a dazzling night in Melbourne as India made a stunning effort to tame arch-rival Pakistan with four wickets in their Super 12 opener of the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Sunday. Struggling at 30/4, Virat Kohli (82*) and Hardik Pandya (40) contributed to a prolific 113-run partnership for the fifth wicket to pull India back into the chase and eventually chase it down in a dramatic last over and off the final delivery. After the conquest, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma was ecstatic and later hailed Kohli as the best.
During the post-match press conference, Rohit remarked, "His best for sure. But, from the situation we were in - and to come out with a victory - I think it has to be one of India's best knocks, not just his best. Because until the 13th over, we were so behind the game, and the required rate was just climbing up and up. But, to come out and chase that score was an extremely brilliant effort from Virat, and obviously, Hardik played a role there as well."
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Rohit measured Kohli's recent struggles and transformation: "Look, I don't think he was struggling with form or anything. He was batting as good as he was. But, the expectation is always so high with him that people tend to talk about it even if he gets a good 30 or 40."
"From the team-management perspective, I thought he was in a good space right from the Asia Cup, where he got a month off and returned. He was fresh, got a brilliant hundred there, got a couple of fifties, if I'm not wrong, and then leading up to the World Cup, we know his quality, and he's done so well in these conditions in all three forms. He used his experience today more than anything else, staying calm under pressure, and we know how good he is when the score is in front of him. He's one of the best chasers in the world," added Rohit, reports ESPNCricinfo.
Rohit also expressed his delight at the bowlers executing their plans flawlessly, as he gauged, "We spoke of certain things in our team meetings. We spoke of how we want to utilise the more extensive boundaries and try and challenge the batters a little bit. You've sometimes got to understand what the pitch is doing."
"That back of a length, slightly back of a length, somewhat full, was not easy to hit, and what happened in today's game will tell you that. Many of the guys got wickets bowling that back of a length because there was a little bit of grass on the pitch and a bit of weather - quite nippy," added Rohit.
"So, we knew if you keep hitting that length, it's going to be challenging, and that is something that we kept constantly putting in the bowlers' ears, that challenge them: if they hit you a couple of sixes from there, it's okay. We got rewarded for bowling that length," Rohit continued.
"Hardik in particular, bowling that kind of length, and a couple of their batters trying to play cross-batted shots got the top edge, and we got the wickets, and that is something that we spoke of at the start. With the way Bhuvi [Bhuvneshwar Kumar] and Arshdeep [Singh] were swinging the ball, our initial plan was to try and pitch it up and see if we could get it to swing. The first four or five overs were brilliant to watch, honestly. It felt like a Test match for a little while because of the way the ball was moving around and the carry in the pitch," concluded Rohit.