Former India player turned veteran commentator Aakash Chopra has applauded Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill for giving India a flying start in their 2023 World Cup win against the Netherlands on Sunday. They added 100 runs in only 11.5 overs as India set the Dutch a massive 411-run target in Bengaluru as well. Later, they bowled out Scott Edwards and company for 250 to complete a convincing 160-run win.
Reflecting on India’s batting in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra said, “There wasn’t much sharpness in bowling and the pitch was extremely flat but Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill came riding a flying horse. They got out in the end. First Shubman got out – found a fielder at fine leg. He scored a fifty and from the disappointment on his face while leaving, it seemed like he was thinking about missing out on 100 or 150. The same can be said about Rohit because he was also batting splendidly.”
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However, Chopra further added that Rohit Sharma couldn’t score double century he scored against Australia at the same venue on a Diwali day in 2013. Rohit smashed a 54-ball 61 before getting out as well.
“When he got out, he also felt that he missed an opportunity as he had scored a double hundred the last time he played here on a Diwali day. But this Diwali wasn’t a double-hundred one. So he also stopped while running,” he observed.
Shubman Gill, on the other hand, hit 51 runs off just 32 deliveries and was caught at long leg while attempting to hook Paul van Meekeren for a maximum. Aakash Chopra added that Virat Kohli too couldn’t convert his half-century into a century as well.
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“Virat Kohli also scored a half-century. He started slowly for sure but then he also gathered pace. However, he too got out. You were thinking if anyone will score a hundred. It’s okay if you don’t score. I don’t have a personal obsession with a hundred in any case, especially these batting milestones. However, someone should play a big knock because if you have to score 400 to 425, you need slightly bigger knocks and huge partnerships, and here there was Shreyas Iyer, and alongside him was KL Rahul,” Aakash Chopra concluded.
