World Cup: Rohit's 122 against SA his best ODI knock, says Kohli

All eyes were on India, one of the World Cup co-favourites, on how they would turn out in their opening match against South Africa. Given the composed and assured manner in which Team India came out and performed both with the bat and ball, there were reasons enough for skipper Virat Kohli to express satisfaction with a job well done.

The Indian bowlers kept South Africa on a tight leash, never allowing their batsmen to flourish. Far from ODI cricket, it was a match that tested every skill of the players. In these ‘testing’ conditions, it was Rohit Sharma who anchored India’s patient response on a wicket that wasn’t easy to bat on.

The Indian opener opened his 2019 World Cup account with a carefully stitched hundred—his 23rd ODI century—to take India home in their first match. The mediocre total of 227 by South Africa never looked easy to chase. Kohli termed the effort as Sharma’s best ODI innings he had witnessed.

“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. 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,” said Kohli of Sharma’s 122 not out on Wednesday at the Aeges Bowl under largely cloudy conditions.

Sharma survived a probing opening spell from Kagiso Rabada and went on to patiently anchor India’s chase, stitching watchful partnerships with K.L. Rahul and M.S. Dhoni.

“A lot of times, batsmen tend to hit their way out of the situation. But he was very composed, 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,” Kohli observed.

Kohli went on to describe India’s performance against South Africa as a professional one. “I think it was a professional effort from us. It was a low-scoring game, not the highest of totals you will see in one-day cricket nowadays. That was because of the way the pitch was throughout the course of the game. We were very professional with the new ball in the middle overs; the spinners picking up five wickets between them was outstanding,” Kohli said.

The team looked upbeat in the middle, in stark contrast to South Africa, which performed and appeared like a team under tremendous pressure. “I think, overall, we are pretty happy with how we played. Starting off well is always an important thing and we got together nicely as a team in the first half on the field. It is very important to create that energy and we were able to do that in the first 10 (overs) and from there, we really built the game nicely and finished it off in a professional manner,” Kohli noted.

Kohli revealed that the team was aware of South Africa’s inability in the past to play the Indian spin duo well in the middle overs and had accordingly planned for the match on Wednesday. The spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal accounted for five wickets between them, giving away 97 runs in the 20 overs they bowled in tandem.

“We spoke about the fact the last time we played them, they were not that confident against our spinners. What we experienced was they were not able to rotate the strike so well. They were trying to hit their way out of a situation which, for a captain, any day, I would love batsmen trying to hit boundaries to get out of trouble rather than rotating strike because the risk factor is high,” Kohli said.

“The spinners together also understood and realised that that is the scenario and they bowled accordingly. I think Kuldeep bowled really well, he controlled the game from one end and Chahal was outstanding... The way he mixed his pace, the ball wasn't turning so much, but even with a little bit of turn and help from the pitch, what he was able to bring out of the wicket was truly brilliant to see,” Kohli declared.

India travel to London on Thursday ahead of their second match against Australia at the Oval on June 9.

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