Rohit Sharma said this about winning the next match against South Africa in the World Cup 2023!
PC: dnaindia
India defeated Sri Lanka in the ongoing World Cup 2023 match on Thursday, November 2. Under the leadership of Rohit Sharma, India set a challenging target of 358 runs, after which Sri Lanka was bowled out for 55 runs at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. This win took India to the top of the points table with its seventh consecutive win in the World Cup 2023. Notably, India became the first team to secure a spot in the World Cup 2023 semi-finals with 14 points from seven unbeaten matches.
A strong Team India will now take on South Africa at the prestigious Eden Gardens on Sunday, November 5. Looking ahead to the encounter, Indian captain Rohit acknowledged South Africa's strong form and expected an exciting match, saying, 'South Africa are playing good cricket, and so are we, so it's going to be a good game.
Despite his exceptional performances throughout the World Cup 2023, Rohit faced an early dismissal against Sri Lanka, getting out after hitting a four on the very first ball. However, India's star-studded batting lineup lived up to expectations, posting an impressive total of 357/8 in 50 overs. The feat was notable for being the highest World Cup score without any player reaching a century. The main contribution came from Shreyas Iyer, who scored a quickfire 82 off 56 balls, with Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill contributing 88 and 92 runs respectively. Their collective effort made it the fifth instance of India crossing the 350-run mark in World Cup history.
Rohit expressed happiness at achieving the primary goal of reaching the semi-finals and credited the top-order batsmen for putting up a strong score which decided the course of the match. "I'm very happy to know we've qualified for the semi-finals, that was the first goal. But the way we've performed in the seven games has been very clinical, and a lot of people have put in a lot of effort," he said. He has extended his hand." It was a good challenge for us to bat and score runs. This is the kind of template you want when you want to make that many runs. The credit for reaching that score goes to the batsmen.
Rohit also praised Shreyas Iyer, highlighting his mental strength and aggressive batting style, which played a key role in India's stellar performance. He said, "Shreyas is a very strong boy, strong mentally and today he did what he is known for - he faced the opponents and the bowlers brilliantly. He has been working very hard on his game and today we saw that's what he's capable of."
Sri Lanka struggled at 3/4 due to India's powerful bowling attack, with the formidable pace duo of Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah wreaking havoc. Mohammed Shami's brilliant performance restricted Sri Lanka to just 55 runs. Bumrah finished with impressive bowling figures of 8/1, while Siraj performed brilliantly with 16/3.