Former India batter and renowned commentator Aakash Chopra lauded Ishan Kishan's performance in India’s second game in the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 against Afghanistan in Delhi on Wednesday.
He said that Ishan (47) delivered a decent performance despite not being at his absolute best against Afghanistan. The youngster also stitched a monumental 156-run opening partnership with captain Rohit Sharma to help India chase down 273 runs in a mere 35 overs against Afghanistan.
Chopra reserved special praise for the senior opener, Rohit Sharma, whose record 131-run masterpiece off 84 deliveries stole the show in the CWC 2023 clash in Delhi. The commentator called the right-hander a 'beast' of ODI cricket.
Aakash Chopra said on his show Aakashvani, which is streaming on JioCinema: “My focus for the chase was purely on Ishan Kishan. I thought that he played decently, was not the best but tried to hold his own, while he let the captain do all the heavy lifting on the other end.”
He added, “Rohit Sharma has made seven centuries in only nineteen games in all editions of the World Cup – what a player! He made those sixes look too easy. It is unfortunate that we don’t give him enough credit – Rohit Sharma is an ODI beast. Whenever he puts up a monstrous performance, the match is always one-sided.”
Meanwhile, Chopra also lavished praise on Jasprit Bumrah after he finished with figures of 4/39 against Afghanistan. The 46-year-old said, “As we know, out of all the pitches Kotla’s is the flattest but then comes in Boom Boom Bumrah! First, he got the wicket of Ibrahim Zadran with the new ball. Hashmatullah Shahidi and Azmatullah Omarzai had a decent partnership which was starting to look dangerous, and it almost looked like they would reach the 300 mark.”
He signed off by saying, “I also want to point out that Bumrah got four wickets on a road-like pitch and restricted Afghanistan’s total to 270 – there is not one better than him across formats. Jasprit Bumrah is the best bowler in the world.”
(With FirstCricket Inputs)
