Former Indian batter Gautam Gambhir has praised Virat Kohli for his brilliant innings against Australia in their first match of the ODI World Cup campaign on October 28. The match was played at MA Chidambaram Stadium and Kohli had a masterclass of 85 runs to help India get a win.
Australia had set a target of 199 runs which was deemed to be below what is typically expected. However, India got a horrible start and Australia’s fast bowlers managed to take three wickets for just two runs in the initial two overs, placing India in a highly precarious position. Top order including Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer was sent to the pavilion without scoring a single run.
After that, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli came to the crease and stitched a solid partnership of 165 runs in 215 balls. Kohli scored 86 runs with the help of six fours. KL Rahul had 97 runs with the help of eight fours and two sixes. With this India got the target of 200 runs in 41.2 overs.
While having a conversation with Star Sports, Gambhir said that Kohli played wonderful cricket under pressure by rotating strikes and running between the wickets.
Gambhir said, “Well, I think it’s just the way you read the game. I think it’s very important. First, when you have to chase those big totals, you got to be able to absorb the pressure. You should have this self-belief, you can chase it down from any situation and position and, more importantly, when he does that in one-day cricket, you have got to realize it’s not about hitting those big shots.”
Gambhir further said, “It’s about running between the wickets. It’s about rotating the strike. It’s about never putting yourself under pressure. The lesser dot balls you play, the better position you’re in, because you know that with these new rules, with five fielders inside and two new balls with any time to accelerate. “
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“But when your team is under pressure, that low risk cricket from there on, if you can continue to build that momentum, continue to build that foundation and that is exactly what he has done. He plays the ball. He was on 70-odd with only 5 boundaries. So, that just shows the ability to play spin and more importantly, the ability to rotate the strike against spin,” said Gambhir.
