Virat Kohli made a brilliant half-century against Afghanistan, his third consecutive one in World cup 2019.
"I thought Virat's captaincy was good, the best part was at no stage he looked panicked or confused. When there were dot balls being bowled he also knew Afghanistan was sinking slowly but surely," Sachin Tendulkar told India Today.
Tendulkar further said, "This match reminded me of the first game we played in 2003 vs Holland. We hadn't scored a big total and eventually the bowlers backed by good fielding we did the job. 225 was made to feel like 245 by the Indians today. The beauty about our team is there are no easy singles available in the circle. Good luck to the batsmen if they want to take the risk."
On a sluggish pitch at the Rose Bowl in Southampton, Afghan spinners kept the Indian batsmen tied up and then chased the runs with calm and coolness and Mohammad Nabi’s amazing fifty took the team to the brink of an amazing victory.
However, Sachin Tendulkar came down hard on the slow Dhoni-Jadhav partnership in middle overs which saw all momentum being taken out of the innings. But he praised Kohli to no extent and said, “Virat's contribution today was perfect. Nobody was talking these numbers 25 years ago. He is always confident, today he was out there early. The moment you see his body language and footwork you know his intent is different and today I saw that."
"It was a difficult track to bat but when Virat was batting it didn't seem that way. When it comes to Virat the way he started, today was possibly his best start. He looked as comfortable as ever. He started timing the ball from the word go,” the master blaster signed off.
(India Today inputs)