ODI World Cup 2023

“He will be disappointed” – Former India pacer opens up on Rohit Sharma’s knock against Pakistan in ODI World Cup 2023

As India thrashed Pakistan by 7 wickets at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Saturday, Indian cricket fans were delighted with the team’s performance. Riding on a combined bowling performance and skipper Rohit Sharma’s brilliant knock, India won the game with 118 balls left. Rohit, in his innings, scored 86 runs off 63 balls with the help of six fours and six sixes.

However, as he missed a well-deserved century, former India pacer Ashish Nehra expressed his views on Rohit’s knock. Speaking with Cricbuzz, Nehra said, “When you have just 191 runs on the board, if you don’t strike in the first 5-7 overs, it will always be difficult. And the way the Indian batters started in the first two overs, it just pushed them on the back foot.”

“Rohit will be disappointed not to get to a hundred, but that’s the kind of positive batting you expect from him once he is set. He didn’t give them any chance to even think of having an opportunity to come back”, he further added. It’s worth noting that India registered their eighth victory in as many games against Pakistan and continued their dominance against arch-rivals.

“I didn’t understand Pakistan’s short ball,”, says Virender Sehwag

On the same panel, Ashish Nehra was joined by former India batter Virender Sehwag. Sehwag also praised Rohit and Team India while questioning Pakistan’s game plan. He questioned Pakistan’s short-ball game plan against in-form Rohit Sharma. “I didn’t understand Pakistan’s ploy of bowling short to Rohit. Yes, he has gotten out playing the pull shot on odd occasions, but it doesn’t trouble him largely. He was never going to get troubled on this wicket or this ground. When he is in such form, he would rarely mistime a pull shot,” Sehwag said.

It’s worth noting that in the last two innings, chasing Rohit has been phenomenal. He scored a century against Afghanistan at Arun Jaitley Stadium on October 11. However, this knock against Pakistan will be a special one for him, as it came at a much bigger stage at a good time. With this victory, India is now the table-topper with six points in three matches. The team will now head to Pune to face Bangladesh on October 19.