Sunil Gavaskar fumes at Rohit Sharma for calling Virat Kohli for unnecessary single
Sunil Gavaskar fumes at Rohit Sharma for calling Virat Kohli for unnecessary single
Even as India registered a near-flawless victory by seven wickets with plenty of overs to spare against Pakistan in the clash at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, however,
Rohit Sharma risked by calling Virat Kohli for a single when it wasn’t necessary. It was an horrible mix-up between the two.
This didn’t go down well with former cricketer Sunil Gavaskar as he felt that Rohit’s call to Virat Kohli was a risk when the ball had gone straight to the fielder.
This mix-up between the two batsmen occured in the ninth over while India was chasing a target of 192 set by Pakistan. Haris Rauf bowled a low full toss after getting smashed for a six. The opener pushed it straight to mid-on along the ground.
Non-striker Kohli immediately put his hand up to signal that he did not want a single. But Rohit was halfway down the pitch and Kohli had to sprint towards the striker’s end and put in a full-length drive.
Had the Pakistan fielder been on target, Kohli would have lost his wicket. Kohli survived and the two batters shared a smile of relief.
At that time Kohli was batting on 14. However, Kohli could not make the most of the reprieve. He played a cross-batted shot against Hasan Ali and got caught by Mohammad Nawaz at mid-on.
But Rohit carried on and reached his half-century from just 36 balls. He smashed six sixes and as many fours in his 63-ball 86. India ended up reaching the target with seven wickets in hand and 117 balls to spare.
Amid the post-match presentation, Rohit said that the bowlers were the ones who set the game up for the team. He didn’t think it was a 190 pitch.
At one stage they were looking at 280. The way they showed grit says a lot. That is something they pride themselves in.
Whoever gets the ball does the job. India got 6 individuals who can do the job with the ball.
His job as a captain is important there as well. It’s to read the conditions and figure out who’s the right guy to do the job.
It’s only because the guys, before entering the WC, got lot of runs. The team was very clear what they wanted to do and never wanted to be in two minds on who’s going to bat where.
News Edit K.V.Raman
