Former India head coach Ravi Shastri heaped praise on captain Rohit Sharma after his half-century against Pakistan in the Super 4 clash of Asia Cup 2023. Rohit started on a sluggish note and struggled a bit against Naseem Shah but he fought hard in that phase and smashed the Pakistan bowlers after getting set.
Shastri talked about the tricky phase Rohit went through against Naseem and hailed him for his positive approach against loose deliveries.
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“There was a 10-ball phase from Naseem Shah at the start that beat him. He was trying to lay bat on ball but he could not. He went through that period and every time he got an opportunity today with anything remotely loose, he hit it over the boundary or to the boundary," Shastri said while speaking on Star Sports during the rain interruption," Shastri said on Star Sports.
He took his time at the start to get set and then smashed the Pakistan bowlers for 6 fours and 4 sixes to stamp his authority over them before getting out on 56 by Shadab Khan.
Rohit reached his fifty in style in just 42 balls, smacking Shadab over deep mid-wicket for six, followed by another cut going for four.
But Shadab bounced back in the 17th over, enticing Sharma to chip a leg-break over the off-side. The Indian skipper went for the loft but was caught by the long-off fielder running 10 metres to his left.
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The former India head coach was impressed with Rohit’s positive intent as he attacked every loose ball that came his way.
“Rohit did not miss out on a single loose ball today, which showed that in spite of that good spell from the bowlers, the intent was that ‘anything loses, I’m going to hit it for a boundary or six’," Shastri further added.
He shared a solid 121-run stand with young Shubman Gill as the duo stamped their authority over the Pakistan bowlers who failed to replicate the same performance as they did in the group-stage clash versus India.
