Dubai: India captain Virat Kohli, who had played down concerns around team combination, laughed off a question, as a journalist asked if India will consider dropping Rohit Sharma from the team for the remainder of the tournament.
“That’s a Brave question. What do you think, sir? Will you drop Rohit Sharma from the T20I team? Unbelievable [laughs]. You remember what he did for us the last time we played, don’t you? If you want controversy, please tell me before, I will answer accordingly,” Kohli said at the post match press conference.
Having scored his 29th T20I half-century, Kohli scored a responsible 57 (49) after India lost three wickets in the powerplay. Stitching a 50-plus stand with Rishabh Pant but India were not able to accelerate towards the end.
The Indian skipper credited Pakistan for the way they played the match against India in the high voltage environment. Saying there is no need to press the panic button after just the opening match in T20 World Cup 2021.
“We did not execute the things that we wanted to but credit is certainly due – they outplayed us today. When you lose three early it’s very difficult to come back, especially when you know the dew is coming. We’re certainly not a team that presses the panic button, it’s the start of the tournament, not the end.”
Kohli believes that his team can ‘overcome’ the mistakes they made in their ICC T20 World Cup 2021 opener against Pakistan. Kohli, who didn’t hesitate from crediting Pakistan on multiple occasions, lauded them for having different answers at various stages of the match.
“Credit to the opposition for the way they played. No shame in accepting that a team played better than you. You also don’t go out there being casual. We tried creating pressure but they had answers for the same. We know where we went wrong. We have that clarity. We definitely feel like we can overcome these mistakes,” he added.
Pakistan created history in the night, beating India by 10 wickets, their first win over the arch-rivals in an ICC World Cup. Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan put on an unbeaten opening stand to take Pakistan through. Left-arm pacer Shaheen Afridi got the big wicket of Rohit Sharma for 0 in the first over and KL Rahul in his second over. Hasan Ali got Suryakumar Yadav to leave India reeling at 31/3 in the powerplay.
Having suffered a massive 10 wicket defeat, India will look to bounce back when they face New Zealand next Sunday in Dubai.
