The Indian Cricket Team started their 2023 World Cup journey with a six-wicket victory over Australia at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Cheapuk on 8th October 2023. After being asked to field first, the Indian bowlers created pressure on the Australian batters.
Jasprit Bumrah got the early breakthrough by dismissing Mitchell Marsh. The spin trio of Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, and Ravichandran Ashwin took 7 wickets between them. Hardik Pandya and Mohammed Siraj took 1 wicket each to bowl out Australia for just 199.
Chasing 200 runs to win, it was a disastrous start as Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma, and Shreyas Iyer fell in big trouble at 2 for 3. Virat Kohli came to the crease along with KL Rahul steadied the ship taking singles and putting pressure on Australian bowlers. Kohli was given a reprieve as Mitchell Marsh dropped a chance when he tried to pull a delivery.
He got the chance and looked in great touch putting pressure on the Australian bowling. His batting looked flawless along with KL Rahul. Both Indian batters kept rotating strike and did not allow the bowlers to settle. It was a superb innings by King Kohli putting on 165 runs partnership for the 4th wicket that helped the Indian team to recover from a tough situation. Kohli was eventually dismissed with a well-made 85 off 116 deliveries. The Indian team won the match by six wickets including 52 balls to spare.
Taking to Star Sports, Gautam Gambhir said, “Well, I think it’s just the way you read the game. I think it’s very important. First, when you must chase those big totals, you have 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.”
“But that’s not gonna be easy. Imagine when you’re 2 or 3 down for two. You can’t go out there and hit a long ball. You will still need to be able to absorb the pressure and try and rotate those strikes. And I’m sure these young cricketers coming through will learn from Virat Kohli,” said Gambhir.
The Indian team will play their next match against Afghanistan at Arun Jaitley Stadium, New Delhi on 11th October 2023. The innings played by Virat Kohli and KL Rahul would give confidence to the Indian team ahead of the matches coming up.
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