In the 2023 World Cup match at Eden Gardens, former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir thought that star batsman Virat Kohli slowed down just a little bit towards the conclusion of the Indian innings against South Africa.
When the ball grew softer and the spinners gained surface grip in the middle overs, Gambhir claimed that both Kohli and Shreyas Iyer handled the situation really well. The former cricket player thought that, towards the conclusion of their innings, Kohli might have struck a little harder.
In an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda, Gautam Gambhir discussed Virat Kohli’s criticism with another former Indian cricketer S Sreesanth.
“It was important for Kohli to bat deep and I feel it was just the last 5-6 overs where he slowed down a bit, maybe because he was nearing a century. But I believe there were already enough runs on the board. It could have hurt India if they were batting on a good pitch.”
Gautam Gambhir
Gambhir further added:
“You got to give credit to Shreyas Iyer for the way he kept taking chances and took the pressure off Virat Kohli. Both batted really well in the middle as the best time to bat was with the new ball. They expertly negotiated Keshav Maharaj and giving him just one wicket when Jadeja picked five was brilliant.”
Gautam Gambhir
Sreesanth Hails Rohit Sharma for Providing a Solid Foundation for Virat Kohli and others
Rohit Sharma needed to get off to a quick start against South Africa, according to Sreesanth, since the going would grow harder to bat as the game went on. Sharma was praised by S Sreesanth for his brilliant performance, scoring forty runs in just twenty-four balls.
In response, he said:
“I have been saying this ever since the Asia Cup when Shaheen Afridi dismissed Rohit Sharma with a ball that nipped back. Since then, whenever someone has tried that ball, Rohit has attacked them in the powerplay. He has been leading from the front taking the aggressive route and has not held back from expressing himself which is something even Dhoni Bhai used to say.”
S Sreesanth
On Sunday, November 12, India will play The Netherlands in their World Cup final league match in Bengaluru.
