iPhone | iPad
Android
Huawei
The series of a premier global route to enable elite amateur golfers to reach the highest level of competition
KT APPDOWNLOAD
Cricket World Cup 2023: Rohit, Kohli will need support from other batters in big games
The batting has been set up by two players — Rohit Sharma who has given India flying starts in four games and Virat Kohli finishing off the games in style
India's captain Rohit Sharma plays a shot during the match against New Zealand. — PTI
Five matches, five successful chases and India are right on top. All looks good, the bowling has been on top with every bowler contributing.
But the batting has been set up by two players — Rohit Sharma who has given India flying starts in four games and Virat Kohli finishing off the games in style.
Yes KL Rahul has made significant contributions with the bat along with Rohit and Kohli. But I am afraid the rest of the players like Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer have not gone on to play one long innings.
India are winning now, but what happens when the team lose both Rohit and Kohli early in a big match?
India were going the same way in the 2019 World Cup where Rohit scored five hundreds and Kohli scored five half-centuries.
But both of them failed in the low-scoring semifinal against New Zealand as the team suffered a painful defeat.
Even in the 2017 Champions Trophy final against Pakistan, the top two of Indian batting fell early as India went down to Pakistan after dominating every game in that tournament.
On Sunday, India was tested against the Kiwis and would have struggled had Kohli not finished off the game.
While everything is looking good for now with five wins in five matches, that's the only area of concern for the team management.
Gill and Iyer need to convert their starts to help the team avoid another heartbreak if the big boys fail.
Mind you Hardik Pandya has yet to face a ball after India's win in the opening game against Australia.
One hopes he recovers for the England game, gets time in the middle and scores runs when the chips are down.
We still have four league games and it's time India addresses this point immediately before the knockout stages.
Moreover, India have chased in all five games so it will not be a bad idea to see how the team performs batting first if Rohit wins the toss again in the next game.
India are the favourites to win this World Cup on home soil. But don't forget they also entered the 1987 World Cup on home soil as the favourites only to lose to England in the semifinal.
Everybody also expected them to win the 1996 World Cup semifinal at the Eden Gardens, but Sri Lanka decimated the Mohammad Azharuddin-led team.
So Rohit's men still need to few things right to emulate MS Dhoni’s side which famously won the World Cup in 2011.
More news from Sports
Alonso, who took his titles with Renault in 2005 and 2006, has not won a race since his 32nd career victory at Ferrari in 2013
Team principal Andrea Stella said McLaren wanted to support Norris 'without too much compromise on our principles'
The Emirates Dubai Sail GP marks the start of an expanded season that features new events in iconic waterfront locations across the world
Yunis Halim, who was born to Palestinian parents in Chicago, will represent Palestine's national baseball team at the Arab Classic in Dubai
Derek Fisher, Kobe Bryant's former LA Lakers teammate, will be in Abu Dhabi next month for two pre-season NBA games as a global basketball ambassador
Dubai Basketball, the newly-established professional sports franchise, will become the first UAE team to compete in a major European league
Local players can earn their spots in the big tournament with good performances in wildcards events at NAS Sports Complex in Dubai