India defeated Bangladesh by 7 wickets in their fourth ODI World Cup 2023 match. Chasing 257 runs on October 19 in Pune, India chased the target down in just 41.3 overs, courtesy of a stunning century from Virat Kohli.
The base for the chase was, however, set by India captain Rohit Sharma, who played yet another aggressive knock at the top and eased India into the chase. Sharma hit 2 sixes and 7 boundaries in his 40-ball innings and scored 48 runs. This took Sharma’s tally of runs to 265 in the tournament and put him right at the top of the leading run-scorers list.
India wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul spoke on Sharma’s role after the match and said that the India captain had been making life easier for the rest of the batters.
“I don’t think Rohit walks in with that mindset, that he wants to take bowlers down. He’s in good nick. He’s been a phenomenal player over the years and he knows how to pace his innings. And once he gets off a few boundaries, then he knows how to get on top of the bowlers and he’s just done that with proper cricket shots here. You don’t see him slogging the ball or you don’t see him innovating. You know, he plays proper cricket shots and stay balanced and hit the ball,” Rahul spoke about his batting to the official broadcaster.
Sharma’s innings meant that the other batters could spend some time in the crease, and that really helped Virat Kohli, who scored a tremendous century after settling in. Rahul spoke about the same and said that in the last few matches, he has come out to bat in really easy situations where the team needed 60 runs off the last 150 balls.
“And when you have batters like that going really hard in the power play, then it just becomes a bit more easier for us in the middle order. Especially in the last few games when we have chased, I had to walk in with 60 runs and to get 60 runs in 151 160 balls so that he makes our job a bit easier and all the rest of the team going forward,” Rahul concluded.
