The Indian skipper, Rohit Sharma showered huge praises on his predecessor Virat Kohli, saying the former skipper’s form is “brilliant” after he hit a half-century against Pakistan in the Super Four match of the Asia Cup on Sunday, September 4. Virat Kohli smashed 60 off 44 balls to help India manage to reach a score of 181 runs for the loss of seven wickets after the Indian openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul raced to a firing start. The India openers stitched a partnership of 54 runs inside the powerplay overs.
From thereon, Virat Kohli anchored the innings but failed to find enough support at the other end. Hardik Pandya, the hero from the team’s previous match, failed to do much and was dismissed for a silver duck. However, Mohammad Rizwan’s match-turning knock of 71 off 51 helped Pakistan beat India by five wickets.
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Talking about Kohli, Rohit Sharma, in the post-match presentation, said: “(Kohli’s) form is brilliant. Needed someone to bat long when the others were getting out. He batted with that tempo as well. Virat getting that score was crucial from the team’s point of view. I thought it was a good score. Any pitch, any conditions, 180 is a good score. But if you don’t pick wickets in the middle, it’s going to be tough. We got to learn a lot today”
He further added, “It’s a high pressure game and you have to be at it every time. A game like that can take a lot out of you, but we were quite calm at the backend, even in the middle when Rizwan and Nawaz had a partnership going. But it went too long and they batted brilliantly Games like this can bring the best out of players. There will be times when they will be challenged and things might not go their way. There’s potential in the players and they’ve done it in the past.”
During the Super Four match, Kohli had smashed one more half-century than the combined fifty-plus scores by India batters against Pakistan. Kohli now has four half-centuries in nine T20Is against Pakistan and, overall, has 32 fifties in his 102nd game in the shortest format.
Other India batters – Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa, and Yuvraj Singh – have hit only one fifty each against Pakistan. Additionally, Kohli has hit two of his four fifties in India’s winning cause against Pakistan.
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Virat Kohli returned to action in the Asia Cup after taking a break from cricket as he was feeling low mentally. The former India captain, who had endured a wretched run with the bat and not scored a century since November 2019, showed glimpses of his return to form in the continental tournament.
