Sharjah: The finest thing that happened in India’s sweeping win over Afghanistan in the T20 World Cup, according to skipper Virat Kohli, was senior off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who produced superb figures of 2 for 14 on his white-ball comeback.
“The return of Ash was the biggest positive, it was something he has worked really hard for,” Kohli said at the post-match presentation when asked what was the biggest takeaway from the win.
“He (Ashwin) showed this control and rhythm in the IPL as well. He’s a wicket-taker and a smart bowler as well.”
Ashwin, who had not played white-ball cricket in four years, was one of the architects of India’s 66-run victory over Afghanistan, which kept their modest semifinal hopes alive.After mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy suffered a left calf injury, he was named in the playing XI. Kohli claimed that the Sharjah pitch was considerably better than the previous two matches, and that his batsmen were able to provide free-flowing batting.
“Much better wicket as well, to be fair. In the other two games as well, if we just had two overs of that free-flowing batting capability, that could have sent the message to the opposition that we’ve put them under pressure.
“T20 is a very instinctive game, even in terms of decision-making. The top three is more or less set unless something like today happens, when the top two go on until over 14 or 15.”
India still has a chance to reach the semifinals, according to Kohli. “We spoke in the team meeting that we have to focus on the small chance we have (to qualify) and stay positive and hunt that chance down.”
Asked if the team had come out to go all out, Kohli said, “We don’t decide we’re going all out. We back the guys because they’re so skillful, and sometimes it comes off like today.
“To give credit to the opposition, they bowled really well in the first two matches and didn’t let us get away.”
After the massive win against Afghanistan, India now has a positive net run rate, and Kohli revealed that NRR was on the minds of the players.
The team wanted to get off to a solid start, which they didn’t do in the first two games, according to player of the match Rohit Sharma.
“There was a conscious effort to lay a good platform for the other batters to express themselves later. A good start and a respectable total were very important from our side. Exceptional batting from KL as well.
“Looking at the trend, they (Afghanistan) have batted first in all their games. We were looking to field first, but it was a good pitch to bat on,” said Rohit who scored 74 off 47 balls with the help of eight fours and three sixes.
He said the team knew run rate could come into play and so wanted to win by a good margin. “Glad that we did that. Whatever the team requires, I’ll try to do that. Today the need was for a quick start. Normally, I try to assess early on but today I had to play a bit differently.”
