We Were 30 Runs Short: Dig At England? Rohit Sharma Comes Up With Bizarre Comment After India's 100-Run Win

Captain Rohit Sharma has said that India were 30 runs short against England at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Sunday, October 29.

For the first time in the ongoing ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023, India batted first. England captain Jos Buttler won the toss and elected to bowl first and his bowlers did not take long to justify the decision. Their pacers had India reeling at 40 for 3 with the likes of Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer back in the hut.

Rohit Sharma stood firm at one end and steadied the ship by sharing a crucial 91-run stand with KL Rahul (39) for the fourth wicket. He finally departed after scoring 87 runs with India reeling at 164 for 5. A 49-run knock from Suryakumar Yadav guided the hosts to a competitive total of 229 for 9 in the allotted 50 overs.

We were not great with the bat today: Rohit Sharma

Not many were expecting the score to be a winning one against the reigning world champions. India’s bowlers, however, made it more than enough as the home side thrashed the English outfit by 100 runs to register their sixth consecutive win in the competition.

England never looked in contention to even challenge the total, let alone chasing it down, as India’s bowlers blew them away. Mohammed Shami continued his stunning form with the ball and picked up 4 wickets while Jasprit Bumrah accounted for 3. Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja picked up 2 and 1 wicket respectively.

Speaking at the end of the game, Rohit Sharma began by praising the character shown by the team before speaking about the batting performance. The star batsman did not shy away from criticising his teammates for their poor display with the bat and expressed his concerns over the collapse at the beginning of the innings. He was also not happy with himself for throwing away his wicket. And despite winning the game by 100 runs, Rohit Sharma said that India were 30 runs short.

“This was the game, a lot of character in the squad. When the times were tough, all our experienced players stood up at the right time and got the game for us. Looking at how the tournament has gone for us, batting second in the first five games, we had to come and bat here. We were challenged upfront, they bowled pretty well upfront. For us to get to a total on a pitch that had something in it, we just wanted to get to a total where we could play with it,” said Rohit Sharma.

“We were not great with the bat today. Losing three wickets isn’t the ideal situation. When you are in a situation like that, all you are looking to do is create that long partnership, which we got. But couple of guys threw it at the end, including myself. All I was thinking was to be positive, the balls in my area I want to put it away, that’s how you put pressure back on the bowlers and the opposition as well. When you look at the overall picture, I thought we were 30 runs short,” added the India captain who was the only player who scored a fifty in the game.

Team India are currently at the top of the points table with 6 wins from as many games. Their next game is against Sri Lanka on November 2 at the Wankhede Stadium.