Mumbai: Captain Rohit Sharma expressed his happiness at India winning back-to-back matches while defending scores and maintaining their unbeaten run in the ICC Men’s ODI World Cup 2023.
Rohit Sharma also expressed his happiness that the team has achieved their first goal by qualifying for the semifinals.
“I’m very happy knowing we have qualified for the semifinals, this was the first goal. But how we approached the seven games has been quite clinical, and a lot of individuals have put in the effort, put their hands up and stood up,” Sharma said during the post-match presentation after India defeated Sri Lanka by 302 runs to register their seventh win in seven matches in the World Cup.
“To put in a performance like this back to back, against England and now, shows the quality of the seamers. Obviously when there’s something for them in the conditions, they are quite lethal,” said Sharma.
Mohd Shami claimed 5-18 and Mohd Siraj 3-18 as India bundled out Sri Lanka for 55 in 19.4 overs for a 302-run victory after superb half-centuries by Shubman Gill (92), Virat Kohli (88) and Shreyas Iyer (82) helped the hosts post 357/8 in 50 overs.
Rohit Sharma said it was a good challenge for them to bat first and put runs on the board.
“It was a good challenge for us to bat and put runs on the board. That’s the kind of template you want to have when you want to score that many runs. Credit to the batters for getting to that total and then the seamers obviously.” said the India captain.
Rohit also credited Shreyas Iyer for shoring up the Indian team’s score at a crucial juncture when they had lost Gill and Kohli in quick succession.
“Shreyas (Iyer) is a very strong lad, strong in his mind, and today he did what he is known for – take on the opposition and the bowlers. He’s been working very hard on his game and today we saw what he’s capable of,” said Sharma.
Sharma said he is looking forward to India’s next match against South Africa as they too are playing well in the World Cup. South Africa have won six of their seven matches and is placed second in the points table with 12 points.
“They’re playing some good cricket, so are we, so it’s going to be a good game,” said Sharma.
