Dubai: India captain Rohit Sharma said that his side was calm and composed in their chase of 265 which they comfortably managed to reach against Australia to advance to the third consecutive final of the Champions Trophy.
Virat Kohli once again proved the cynosure of India’s batting and played a knock of 84 runs studded with five fours while KL Rahul’s unbeaten 42 and Hardik Pandya’s 28 cameo laced with three sixes and a four powered them to a four-wicket win in the semi-final at Dubai International Stadium on Tuesday.
Rohit admitted that the clash was thrilling till the last ball as Australia were also in the game after the dismissal of Kohli but Pandya and Rahul gave the finishing touches to India’s innings.
“Till the last ball is bowled, nothing is certain. At the halfway stage, we felt like it’s a reasonable score. The nature of the pitch doesn’t allow you play your shots. We were clinical with the bat. We were calm and composed in our chase,” Rohit said in the post-match presentation.
The skipper lauded the efforts of Kohli and especially Pandya’s consecutive sixes off Adam Zampa in the crucial juncture of the encounter.
“Credit goes to everyone who were involved in making the team. (Kohli) He’s done it for so many years. When we were batting, we were calm. Those shots in the end by Hardik were crucial,” he said.
“Looked better (pitch). Slightly played better than the one against NZ. It’s about playing good cricket. There are a lot of experienced guys. That’s something I wanted to have – six bowling options and at the same get that batting depth as well,” Rohit added.
With this win, India became the first team to qualify for the Champions Trophy final for a third consecutive time. They will now take on the winner of the second semi-final between South Africa and New Zealand in the final in Dubai on March 9.
Ahead of the final, Rohit is happy that his players are in good form and is not worried about his opponents in the summit clash.
“When you are in the final, you want all the guys in form. All these guys have made an impact and that gives us a lot of confidence. We’ll not think too much about it. Both are good teams, that’s why they are in the semis. It’s a very high pressure tournament, it’s always nice to have some time off and relax and then think about the final,” he said.
(IANS)
