Mumbai: Team India is riding high in the Caribbean.
Unbeaten in the ICC T20 World Cup so far, Rohit Sharma’s men have roared into the final with back-to-back wins over Australia and England.
Only South Africa, the only other team with an all-win record, stand in the way of a major ICC tournament win for India after a gap of 11 years.
Amidst the euphoria and expectations, there is a worry bugging India’s billions of cricket-crazy fans. It’s champion batter Virat Kohli’s abysmal form in this tournament.
Known to be a big-match and big-tournament player, Kohli’s tally in 7 matches is a mere 75 runs at a strike rate of 100.
He has opened with Rohit Sharma in every innings, and got out attempting aggressive shots more often than not, in keeping with the team’s strategy of taking on the bowlers in power play.
There are some who feel it’s unfair to keep playing Kohli at the expense of exciting young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Will it be better to drop Kohli and bring in Yashasvi for Saturday’s final?
Rohit doesn’t think so. Obviously, neither does coach Rahul Dravid who will be in charge of the team for the last time.
Asked about Kohli’s poor form, Rohit said it’s part of any cricketer’s career.
In fact, the skipper praised Kohli’s approach and believed that he will come up with a big knock in the final.
“Look, he’s a quality player, and you can go through that. We understand his class and importance in big games. Form is never a concern when you’ve played for 15 years. He’s looking good, the intent is there… probably he’s saving himself for the final,” Rohit said after India rolled over England by 68 runs in the second semifinal.
“You know with Virat, the thing is, when you play a slightly high-risk brand of cricket there can be times when it doesn’t come off. Even today, I thought he hit a really good six to set the tempo but he was just unlucky that the ball seamed a little bit more. But I love the intent, I love the way he went about doing it. It sets a good example for the group as well, if he’s willing to do it. And you know, for some reason, I don’t want to jinx it, but I think there’s a big one coming up. I’m just loving his attitude and that he’s committing himself on the field — I think he deserves it,” Rohit told official broadcasters Star Sports.
India travelled to Barbados on Friday for Saturday’s title-decider at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, the ground where they thumped the Aussies four days ago.
Such has been the scheduling by the ICC, the Indians hardly had the time for a pre-match nets session.
In fact, the team management did the mandatory pre-match press conference in Guyana itself before boarding the flight for Barbados.
There is forecast of rain on Saturday, but a reserve day has been slotted for the final.