Dubai [UAE], March 5 (ANI): Following his side’s win over Australia in the ICC Champions Trophy semifinal, Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir hailed skipper Rohit Sharma, saying that his high strike rate sends a “good signal” to the team.
Rohit shattered a massive record and etched his name in the record books by becoming the first captain in the history of cricket to reach the finals of all ICC tournaments. India’s momentous triumph over Australia in the Champions Trophy semi-final on Tuesday, made India the first side to reach the fifth Champions Trophy final, no other team has reached more than three.
Since Rohit took over full-time captaincy in February 2022, India has toppled several records. In a span of three years, India has stormed into the finals of every ICC tournament, making him the first skipper to achieve the feat. He has reached the finals of ICC T20 World Cup 2024, ICC Cricket World Cup 2023, ICC World Test Championship 2023 and the ICC Champions Trophy, having won the T20 WC 2024 out of these.
Speaking about Rohit’s batting in the post-match presser, Gambhir said, “Look, the final of the Champions Trophy is now coming up. What can I say before that? If your captain bats with such a tempo, it just gives a very good signal to the dressing room that we want to be absolutely fearless and courageous. You evaluate from the runs; we evaluate from the impact. That’s the difference. You evaluate from the stats; we evaluate from the impact. As journalists, as experts, you only look at numbers, averages. But as a coach, as a team, we do not look at numbers or averages. If the captain puts up his hand first, then there is nothing better than that for the dressing room.”
In four matches in the tournament so far, Rohit has not failed to deliver those crucial runs in the powerplay and has continued playing the role of aggressor during the first ten overs to truly maximise on batter-friendly field conditions. In four matches, he has made 104 runs at an average of 26.00 and a strike rate of 107.21, with the best score of 41. During this match against Australia, he made 28 in 29 balls, with three fours and a six.
Coming to the match, Australia won the toss and elected to bat first. After an early wicket of Cooper Connolly, Travis Head (39 in 33 balls, with four boundaries and two sixes) had a 50-run stand with Steve Smith. Smith carried on, with half-century stands against Marnus Labuschagne (29 in 36 balls, with two fours and a six) and Alex Carey (61 in 57 balls, with eight fours and a six). Carey was there till 48th over, untill a fine direct hit from Shreyas Iyer ended his knock.
Australia was skittled out for 264 in 49.3 overs.
Shami (3/48) was the top bowler for India, while Varun Chakravarthy (2/49) and Ravindra Jadeja (2/40) also unleashed a spin web. Axar Patel and Hardik Pandya took a wicket each.
During the run chase, India lost skipper Rohit Sharma (28 in 29 balls, with three fours and a six) and Shubman Gill (8) early and were reduced to 43/2. From then on, a 91-run partnership between Virat and Shreyas Iyer (45 in 62 balls, with three fours) brought India back into the game. Virat also had a brief 44-run stand with Axar Patel (27 in 30 balls, with a four and six) and a 47-run stand with KL Rahul (42* in 34 balls, with two fours and two sixes).
Hardik delivered a brief and fiery cameo, scoring 28 in 24 balls, with a four and three sixes, helping India seal a win. India finished at 267/6 in 48.1 overs.
Nathan Ellis (2/48) and Adam Zampa (2/60) were the top bowlers for Australia. (ANI)
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