Right after the memorable victory against Pakistan, the Indian cricket team starts to receive praise from all around the world.
Since India’s defeat against Pakistan in the ICC T20 world Cup 2021, the Indian cricket team faces lots of changes in the team’s structure including captaincy change. Post the T20 World Cup 2021 defeat, Virat Kohli steps down as the Indian captain where BCCI named Rohit Sharma as the new captain of the Indian cricket team.
Madan Lal Praises Rohit Sharma
Right after Virat’s heartbreaking announcement, he struggles to find his form back while many cricket experts and former legends slam Virat Kohli for his low-scoring games.
Ahead of the T20 World Cup 2022, Virat has been named in the Asia Cup 2022 squad. Though India was eliminated from the game, Virat Kohli makes fans go crazy right after he slams his 71st century after 1021 days.
While no one can predict Virat’s performance in T20 World Cup 2022, the Indian cricket team was scheduled to play their first match of the tournament against their arch-rival Pakistan on October 23, 2022, in Melbourne.
With rain threatening in Melbourne, the match has been staged without any compromises. Notably, this series will be Rohit’s first ICC tournament as a full-time Indian captain.
Winning the toss, India chooses to field first. Babar Azam and M Rizwan who were considered the pillars of the Pakistan cricket team failed to score the expected runs and lose their wicket for 0 and 4 respectively to Arshdeep Singh.
With Masood and Iftikhar Ahmed’s impressive knocks, Pakistan managed to score 159 runs for 8 wickets.
Former India cricketer Madan Lal praised Rohit Sharma for his decision of bringing Ashwin into the bowling unit and called it the ‘highest point of his captaincy’.
“I think Rohit not bowling Axar Patel after his expensive over was the highest point (of his captaincy in the match). He looked toward his more experienced spin bowler in Ashwin. He bowled Ashwin three as too many runs were conceded at that point. I believe it was the highest point of his captaincy today,” Madan Lal told Aaj Tak.
As of Pakistan, India too loses their prime players Rohit, KL Rahul, and Suryakumar Yadav for 4, 4, and 15 runs respectively. Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya walk in when India almost lose their hope of winning the match. Virat and Hardik made an impressive 113 runs partnership for their next wicket.
Virat Kohli’s back-to-back six of the 19th over bowled by Haris Rauf increased India’s hope for winning. But Nawaz dismissed Hardik off the first ball of the final over and makes the final over as thrilling as possible. Nawaz bowled a highish full toss which Virat redirect to cross the boundary ropes
The boundary loads pressure over the bowler which makes him bowl wide of the next ball which adds positivity to the Indian side with 2 needs of the last delivery, R Ashwin made a bold move by staying in the crease and leaving the ball which turned down leg after pitching and resulting in wide.
After the scores are leveled, Ashwin lofts it over mid-off and scored the required one run, and leads India to a historic win.
Suresh Raina Praises Rohit
Apart from Madan Lal, former India batter Suresh Raina also lavished praise on Rohit and said that he is a player with a lot of respect in the team.
While many praises Virat for his unbelievable comeback on a crucial stage, the praises extend to Rohit’s captaincy. Particularly for his decision of bringing senior bowler Ashwin into the game right after Axar Patel failed to control his first over.
“I think he has a lot of respect in the team. The communication he has in the dressing room. He is a leader inside and outside. I always felt he had better communication and players respect him,” said Suresh Raina.
During the post-match presentation, Rohit says: I was in the dressing room. I don’t have any words left. You got to expect something like this in a game like this. We wanted to stay in the game for as long as possible. That crucial partnership was a game-changing moment for us. The pitch had something in it.
There was nice carry. Some swing and seam. Good to see from the bowling perspective. They had a good partnership (Iftikhar and Masood) after that. They batted well toward the end as well. But we knew we had to bat out of our skin to chase this.
Those two guys (Kohli and Pandya) are experienced. Staying calm and taking the game deep was very critical. Good for our confidence. Always crucial to get off the mark like this. We were in no position to win this.
The way we won that’s more pleasing for us. Hats off to Virat for the way he batted, has to be the best innings he has played for India. I would like to thank everyone, it’s wonderful to see. Their support for us is very, very crucial wherever we go.
Of special knocks, game-changing sixes & thrilling victory at the MCG! 👌 💪
𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹: Men of the moment – @imVkohli & @hardikpandya7 – chat after #TeamIndia beat Pakistan in the #T20WorldCup. 👏 👏 – By @RajalArora
Full interview 🎥 🔽 #INDvPAKhttps://t.co/3QKftWa7dk pic.twitter.com/sK7TyLFcSI
— BCCI (@BCCI) October 24, 2022
India will face the Netherlands to play their next match of the tournament on October 27 in Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney.
