Team India continued their unbeaten run in the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup as they defeated Australia by 24 runs in their last Super 8 match in St Lucia on Monday (June 24).
Asked to bat first, the Men in Blue rode on skipper Rohit Sharma’s brutal 92 off 41 balls to rack up a mammoth 205/5 on the board. Suryakumar Yadav (31 off 16) and Hardik Pandya (27* off 17) also made handy contributions with the bat.
The Indian bowlers then restricted the Aussies to 181/7 and secured a place in the semi-final. Kuldeep Yadav starred with the ball for India, returning with the figures of 2/24 in his four overs.
After the game, Rohit mentioned that the persistent wind at the venue posed a significant challenge for the batters. The Indian captain revealed he had to play more strokes on the off side to minimize the wind's impact on his shots.
"I thought right from over number one, there was a strong breeze blowing across. They (Australia) changed their plan, bowling against the breeze, so I realised I had to open up the off side as well.
"You've got to factor in the breeze and understand that the bowlers are smart as well and open up all sides of the field. When you keep an open mind and not just think of one shot, you can access all areas of the field," said Rohit, as quoted by PTI.
"200 is obviously a good score, but when you're playing on grounds like this where wind is a factor, anything is possible, but I thought we used the conditions very well. It was very pleasing to see how we were getting through those overs and getting the wickets at the same time."
Sharma expressed confidence in Kuldeep’s ability to do well in the Caribbean, following the wrist-spinner's experience with seamer-friendly conditions in New York.
"Kuldeep, we understand the strengths he has, but you have to use it when you need it. The pitches in New York were seamer-friendly, but we knew he would play a big role later."
Rohit’s primary goal was to sustain the "tempo" of the match rather than focusing on personal milestones such as reaching a century.
"It was a good wicket, and you want to try and back yourself to play those kinds of shots. I've been trying to do that for a few years now, and I'm glad it came off today. The fifties and hundreds don't matter, I wanted to bat with the same tempo and carry on.
"You want to make big scores, yes, but at the same time you want to make the bowlers think where the next shot is coming, and I think I managed to do that today," he added.
Rohit wants the Indian team to maintain their current style of play as they made it to the knockout stages of the tournament.
"We don't want to do anything different (in the knockouts). We want to play the same way, understand what the individuals need to do in a given situation, and play freely.
"So far we've been doing that consistently, and semifinals, we have to try and do the same thing. It'll be nice (to play England in the semifinal). Nothing changes for us, we want to focus on what we can do as a team, and take the game on."
(With PTI Inputs)
