Follow UsIndia couldn’t have asked for a better game ahead of their semi-final: a tough opposition, a real opportunity to test out their bench strength. On March 2 (Sunday), India ticked off all the boxes, winning majestically against New Zealand by a margin of 44 runs and testing out mystery spinner Varun Chakaravarthy, who finished with figures of 5/42.
In the post-match presentation, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma insisted that India wanted to try out the mystery spinner. However, there's no confirmation that the five-wicket haul could retain Varun in the Indian setup for their semi-final clash against Australia.
“He [Chakaravarthy] has something different about him, so we wanted to see what he can offer. We haven't thought much about the next game, but it's a good headache to have,” Rohit said in the post-match presentation.
It was also an important clash in the context of India testing out its middle order, with Shreyas Iyer making a valuable contribution, scoring 79, and building a crucial partnership with Axar Patel (42).
“It's critical to possibly win every game and do everything right in a short tournament. It's important to correct mistakes quickly, and that's where we know if your team is going up or going down,” Rohit said.
“It is important to finish on a high. NZ are a good team that is playing some good cricket. It is very important to get a good result. We played a perfect game. It was important at that stage (after being 30/3) to build a partnership, and I thought we got to a good total. We have the quality in our bowling to defend that total,” he further added.
With the crucial win against New Zealand, India have set themselves up a semi-final date with their eternal arch-nemesis Australia. Since 2010, India just have one knockout win against Australia, coming in the 2011 ODI World Cup quarter-final at the Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad.
“It will be a good game; Australia has a rich history of playing ICC tournaments well, but is is about us and what we want to do well on that particular day. It will be a great contest, looking forward to that.”