"Virat Doesn’t Play Like This.."- Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma has commented on Virat Kohli‘s failure with the bat during the third IND vs AFG T20I at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Wednesday (January 17). The recently-concluded three-match series marked the return of both the senior batters to India’s T20I side. Both of them had not played a T20I for the Indian team since the 2022 T20 World Cup. Rohit Sharma played in all three games of the series while Virat Kohli played in the last two.

In the final T20I, the India skipper scored a sensational unbeaten century while his predecessor could not even open his account. Virat Kohli registered his first duck in T20Is as Fareed Ahmad dismissed him for a golden duck. The right-handed batsman went for a pull shot on the very first ball he faced and ended up miscuing his shot.

Rohit Sharma on Virat Kohli’s failure with the bat:

While Virat Kohli could not contribute with the bat, Rohit Sharma was all praise for him. The India captain praised his teammate for showing intent on the very first ball he faced. Kohli has faced criticism for his strike-rate in recent times and his decision to play an aggressive shot on the first ball made his captain happy.

“Virat doesn’t usually play the first ball like this but he showed great intent,” Rohit Sharma told JioCinema.

Rohit himself was dismissed on the very first ball while trying to play an aggressive shot in the second T20I. He was also out for a duck in the first game as well but bounced back in style in the third game. The right-handed batsman scored a record fifth T20I century before starring in the two super overs as well to help his side register a thrilling win.

India were reeling at 22 for 4 before Rohit and Rinku Singh shared an unbeaten stand of 190 runs to take the score to 212. Rohit scored 121 while Rinku scored 69. In reply, Afghanistan finished on 212 as well thanks to half-centuries from Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, and Gulbadin Naib. Both the teams finished on 16 in the first super over. In the second super over, India scored 11 runs with Rohit scoring all of them. In reply, Afghanistan could manage only 1 run.