/sportsinfo/media/member_avatars/image 59.png)
Follow Us/sportsinfo/media/media_files/ekHk4NIwg2ZdbqkKAEAN.png)
Virat Kohli (Source-ICC)
Team India started the Group 8 phase of the T20 World Cup in style. Rohit Sharma’s men defeated Afghanistan by 47 runs in Barbados on Thursday. The win wasn’t without hiccups as the Indian top-order was put under pressure due to clinical bowling by Afghanistan.
Virat Kohli produced the shot of the day which reminded every fan his incredible shot during the 2022 T20 World Cup. The former Indian skipper hit Naveen-ul-Haq straight down the ground for a huge six with same shot that he had played against Haris Rauf.
That shot played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground was called one of the best shots in the world. The 35-year-old scored 24 runs before he was dismissed by Rashid Khan to continue his poor run of form.
Suryakumar Yadav hogs the limelight as RO-KO flop yet again
Rahul Dravid and his Indian team management will be concerned with the way their two stalwart batters are performing. Rohit Sharma yet again fell to a left-arm pace bowler, while Virat Kohli struggled to get going with the bat.
Rohit Sharma has seen his performances drop ever since his half-century against Ireland in the first match. Virat Kohli on the other hand has scored 29 runs from 4 matches with an average of 7.25.
India’s next match is against Bangladesh and a win on Saturday will push the men in blue towards the semi-finals. If India has to win their first ICC title in 11 years, the two batting stalwarts will have to perform better.
Suryakumar Yadav was yet again the best batter for India with his 53 runs from 28 balls. The 33-year-old had scored an unbeaten 50 against USA in the previous encounter. When Yadav walked into bat, Rishabh Pant had departed after scoring 20 runs from 11 balls.
Having added just 8 runs to their total, India lost Virat Kohli for 24. SKY added 28 crucial runs with Shivam Dube before adding the match-changing 60 run stand with Hardik Pandya for the 5th wicket.
The player of the match was rightly awarded to Suryakumar Yadav who while speaking during the ceremony said “think you just need to know your game plan, and just play accordingly. I still remember when Hardik came in to the bat, I told him let's bat with the same intent. Let's keep pressing the pedal and keep pushing, in the end very happy with a score of 180”