World Cup 2019: “Rohit is the best One-day player,” says Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli-led India have registered a convincing win over Bangladesh on July 2 at Edgbaston, Birmingham in the ongoing ICC World Cup. With this win, India have sealed their berth for the semi-finals. On the other hand, Bangladesh have been knocked out of the tournament.

India won the toss and chose to bat first. India openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul got off to a flying start, adding 180 runs in 29.2 overs. Rohit Sharma scored another century in the World Cup with 7 fours and 5 sixes before getting dismissed for 104 off 92.

Though captain Virat Kohli failed to impress the bat, youngster Rishabh Pant scored a quickfire 48 off 41. MS Dhoni also scored 35 off 31 and took India to 314 after 50 overs, despite Mustafizur Rahman’s five-wicket haul.

Chasing the total, Bangladesh openers Tamim Iqbal and Soumya Sarkar got off to a steady start where they added 39 runs in 9.3 overs before Shami provided with the first breakthrough. Despite having economical spells from India, Bangladesh players started building partnerships. In-form Shakib Al Hasan scored 66 off 74 whereas Mohammad Saifuddin smashed a quickfire 51 off 38.

However, Jasprit Bumrah failed their plans as he took a four-wicket haul. Whenever Bangladesh batsmen showed a little intent of winning the game, captain’s go-to bowler Bumrahbroke the ship and he picked the final two wickets in the 48th over and helped India win the game convincingly.

However, in the post-match presentation, Kohli praised the Bangladesh players, saying they did really well.

“Bangladesh has played some really good cricket in the tournament. They deserve a lot of credit for the fight they put up, even till the last wicket I think they were in the game. We had to work hard for the win but very happy that we saw ‘Q’ (Qualified) in front of the team in the table now,” said Virat Kohli.

He further praised Hardik Pandya as well.

“We are really really happy that we qualified for the semi-final with one more game to go. We experienced that when Hardik put under pressure has come back well in the tournament. He finds a way to contain runs and get you wickets, he’s really looking forward to do stuff for the team and that’s really helping his cricket,” he told.

“When he comes on to bowl he thinks as a batsman and that helps him to think, think what the batsmen could do. You always have that extra bit of cushion when you have someone like that, he actually wants the ball, so that he can check the body language (of batsmen), he’s really bowling well,” he further added.

India played with five bowlers today as they were trying some different combination. While Bhuvneshwar Kumar had returned the squad, Kedar Jadhav had been excluded and Dinesh Karthik got the chance to play.

“Playing with five bowlers was a gamble but we had to change the combinations because of the ground dimensions. We wanted to try out a perfect combination when we play with such a small boundary, as we can’t be playing with the same combination for every pitch and every dimension we play. So we needed to be a bit flexible and we got the result today,” said Kohli.

India’s massive total was put up on the back of a blitzy century from the in-form opener Rohit Sharma, who according to his captain is the best player in the 50-over format.

“I have been watching it for years now, I have been saying it publicly, in my opinion, Rohit is the best One-day player. When he plays, we are heading towards a big score and really happy with the way he’s playing,” happily expressed the captain.

Virat Kohli praised his key bowler Jasprit Bumrah for his execution of the plan and restricted Bangladesh.

“Bumrah’s overs were always going to be crucial, you can bank on him. He’s the number 1 bowler at the moment and he can execute his plans. We can look to capitalise on situations when you can get those extra 30 runs. Very happy with the way the team has played, Sri Lanka is also a good side so would like to continue playing well against them,” Virat Kohli concluded.