Indian captain Rohit Sharma showered praise on Virat Kohli after the team secured a six-wicket win against arch-rivals Pakistan at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai on Sunday. In pursuit of 242, Kohli scored a match-winning 100* and took his team over the line.
The right-hander looked in complete control from the start as he scored a couple of sumptuous cover drives. Kohli was under the pump as he hadn’t been at his best in the recent past and could only meander to 22 off 38 balls in the opening clash against Bangladesh.
However, Kohli also completed 14000 ODI runs when he drove Haris Rauf through the covers. Furthermore, Kohli overtook Ricky Ponting’s tally of runs to become the third-highest run-getter in International cricket. This was Kohli’s maiden century in the Champions Trophy.
Rohit Sharma said in the post-match presentation, “He loves representing the country. He wants to be out there. We’ve seen it with him over the years. People in the dressing room are not surprised.”
On the other hand, Rohit also hailed the collective bowling effort after Rizwan decided to bat first. Hardik Pandya bowled an impressive spell of 2-31 in his eight overs whereas Kuldeep Yadav returned with impressive figures of 3-40. Jadeja dismissed Tayyab Tahir with a jaffa whereas Axar Patel accounted for Mohammad Rizwan.
Rohit concluded, “The way we started with the ball was superb. We knew it gets slightly better to bat under lights. We backed our experience to get the runs. Credit goes to guys like, Axar, Kuldeep and Jadeja. They stitch a very good partnership – Rizwan and Shakeel. It was important not to let the game drift away. Not to forget the way Hardik, Shami and Harshit bowled as well. We’ve played a lot together, this format. It can be quite tricky at times. Axar and Kuldeep stepped up today.”
India will next take on New Zealand at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai on 2nd March.
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