The Indian skipper Virat Kohli along with his deputy Rohit Sharma stitched a humungous partnership on Sunday during the first ODI of the five-match series against Windies in order to chase down the total of 323 with almost 8 overs to spare. The flamboyant pair shared a partnership of 246 for the second wicket which is India’s highest for any wicket against West Indies in ODIs. It is also India’s seventh highest partnership for any wicket in the 50-over format.
Talking about the same after receiving his man of the match award during the post-match presentation, Kohli said, “Life isn’t difficult when Rohit is at the other end. Happens very rarely when Rohit plays second fiddle. Among the top three, I’ve preferred the anchor role, but today I felt good and I communicated with Rohit that he should play the anchor role.”
Kohli joined Rohit in the middle when they were reduced to 10/1 in the second over. He stated scoring boundaries from the word go while Rohit mostly kept the strike rotating. By the time the Indian skipper was dismissed, he had scored 140 runs with the help of 21 fours and two sixes. After that, Rohit went on to share a 70-run partnership with Ambati Rayudu where he took the role of aggressor. He ended up scoring another humungous score of 152 off 117 balls, scoring the winning runs with his eighth six of the innings.
WATCH – Virat Kohli And Rohit Sharma Puts Windies Bowler On Remand
Describing the same, the Indian skipper said, “When I got out, he (Rohit) took over and Rayudu played the anchor. And I’ve always enjoyed batting with him. It’s our fifth or sixth double-hundred partnership. When we both bat like that its good fun out there and we know the team will benefit from it.”
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This was Kohli’s first ODI since July as he decided to take some rest during the Asia Cup. He now only needs 81 more runs to become the fastest batsmen in terms of innings to reach the 10,000-run landmark in ODI cricket.
Talking about maintaining the integrity of the same, Virat said, “I have a few years left to enjoy the sport. Playing for the country is a matter of pride, so you can’t take any game lightly. And I like being honest about the sport you love. You’re playing for India, not everyone gets to do that, so that needs to be respected.”
