Team India opened the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 campaign with a magnificent triumph over Australia in Chennai on Sunday.
The men in blue managed to restrict Australi to a total of 199 runs, before achieving the total with 52 balls to spare and six wickets in hand.
WORLD CUP 2023: SCHEDULE | RESULTS | POINTS TABLE | MOST RUNS | MOST WICKETS
India were off to a terrible start in the chase as they lost the top order cheaply with Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kisan and Shreyas Iyer all going without registering a single run off the bat.
However, former skipper Virat Kohli and wicketkeeper KL Rahul put up a brilliant partnership to steady the ship and get the team out of trouble.
Kohli made 85 runs off 116 deliveries in the chase, while Rahul registered a match-winning knock of an unbeaten 97.
Rahul, who has been in fine touch since making is return to the ODI format in the Asia Cup, continued his good form with the willow against the Aussies in a crucial win on home soil.
“The only chat after 50-70 runs of partnership was to conserve the energy, to not take the twos, but once the ball hits the gap the instincts take over and you end up running,” Rahul said.
“It was a tough day. Glad that we could get our journey in the World Cup with a win,” he added.
“You do have a couple of quick wickets sometimes, if the ball is doing something but not like that, it still takes 4-5 overs and not 1.5 overs. I just came and sat. I had a shower and just sat and then Ishan (Kishan) got out. I had to rush back to get taped, started wearing my pads, and then Rohit (Sharma) got out. Then I thought I will get at least two overs because Shreyas (Iyer) will bat a little bit, but he got out in the first or the second ball, I don’t even know because I started rushing out,” Rahul reflected on his preparation before coming out to play the important innings.
Kohli opined that it felt good to knock the ball around without paying too much heed to the numbers on the board and that helped the pair navigate the chase to perfection.
“One thing for me that was the highlight of the partnership, obviously because of the low total, was how content we were to just knock the ball around. Not necessarily looking at the number of balls we have faced, and the runs we have gotten, and just fighting through the physical challenges of what we have experienced through the afternoon and then coming into the evening,” Kohli said.
Kohli also spoke about the physical condition of the batters heading in to bat in the second innings after having fielded in the first innings under the hot Chennai sun.
“Then the pressure makes you feel more tensed and you start feeling more fatigued than you are. Just knocking the ball around and bringing the total down 10-15 runs at a time was something that really helped our partnership,” the 34-year-old said.
Comments
0 comment