Virat Kohli heaped praise on vice-captain Rohit Sharma after his “composed” innings helped India to a 6-wicket win over South Africa in their World Cup opener at Southampton on Wednesday.
Speaking at the post-match press conference, Kohli said. “I think in my opinion this is by far his best ODI innings because of the kind of pressure the first game brings from a World Cup point of view. And then I know, as a batsman, when you go in and a few balls bounce like that, it’s not easy to gather yourself again and play in a calm manner.”
“A lot of times batsmen tend to hit their way out of the situation. But he was very composed, he was very – he’s played so many games, we expect a lot of maturity and a lot of responsibility from someone like him,” he added.
Sharma made an unbeaten 122 in 144 deliveries, curbing his natural instincts to play as the situation demanded. The Indian captain felt the way Sharma compiled his innings made it a really special knock.
“I think controlling the game so beautifully from one end and allowing the others to display themselves and string in small little partnerships, looking at the fact that they were only chasing 228, he played the perfect innings for that kind of a situation on that kind of a wicket against a bowling attack that was threatening to pick up wickets at any stage. So, yeah, in my opinion, by far his best knock,” Kohli concluded.
India play Australia in their next game on June 9.
