IND Vs PAK, ODI World Cup 2023: Rohit Sharma Credits Bowlers After India Demolish Pakistan
New Delhi: India captain Rohit Sharma credited the bowlers after the Men in Blue thrashed Pakistan by seven wickets in an ODI World Cup 2023 encounter on Saturday at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Chasing a below-par 192, India romped home with more than 19 overs to spare. With this win, India rose to the top of the table with six points from three games. New Zealand too have six points but India are ahead due to net run rate.
India used six bowlers with five of them – Jaspirt Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja – taking two wickets apiece. Only all-rounder Shardul Thakur returned empty-handed.
“The bowlers were the ones today as well who set the game up for us. I don’t think it was a 190 pitch. At one stage we were looking at 280. The way they showed grit says a lot. That is something we pride ourselves in,” Rohit said after the game.
While Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan were batting, it looked like Pakistan would easily score near 300. But the Indians staged a comeback with three wickets in 11 balls and eventually took Pakistan’s last eight wickets for just 36 runs to turn the match into their head.
“Whoever gets the ball does the job. We’ve got 6 individuals who can do the job with the ball. My job as a captain is important there as well. It’s to read the conditions and figure out who’s the right guy to do the job,” he added.
With three wins in the pocket, Rohit doesn’t want to get too excited and wants to go with one match at a time. “Don’t want to get too excited. Don’t want to get too low as well. Want to stay balanced. Keep calm and keep moving forward,” he added.
In the chase, Rohit Sharma led from the front with a 63-ball 86. Shreyas Iyer too remained unbeaten at 50 as India romped home in 30.3 overs.