Follow UsVirat Kohli rightly stole all the limelight on Sunday (November 5) by equalling Sachin Tendulkar’s world record of 49 ODI centuries, but captain Rohit Sharma didn’t forget Shreyas Iyer and Ravindra Jadeja’s contributions in India’s 243-run win over South Africa in Kolkata. The Men in Blue are still unbeaten in the 2023 World Cup after eight games and are set to finish the league stage as table-toppers.
This was supposed to be India’s toughest challenge but the hosts made South Africa look like they were nothing. Rohit himself slammed 40 off 24 as India slammed 91/1 in the powerplay. They lost Shubman Gill in the next over but Kohli and Iyer added 134 runs for the third wicket and made sure there was no collapse in the middle overs.
Iyer, who also scored a fifty against Sri Lanka, made 77 off 87 against South Africa. Jadeja played a cameo of 29* off 15 deliveries before picking up 5/33 in the second innings to help India bundle out Proteas for just 83 in 27.1 overs.
"Even if the faith hadn't been repaid, I would have still stuck with Iyer. We need to keep the trust. It can't be done everyday. The last two games have shown what Iyer is capable of," said Rohit. "Jadeja has been very good for us. Playing in every format over the years. Today was a classical case as to what Jadeja is for us. Came out at the death and scored vital runs. Then picked up wickets. He knows his role and knows what the expectations from him."
India have batted first in their last three games but have had no trouble defending totals. They defended 229 against England on a tricky Lucknow pitch and then hammered Sri Lanka by 302 runs in Mumbai. Even against South Africa, Rohit said he knew India had enough on the board. Kohli scored 101* off 121 deliveries and got India to 326/5.
“If you look at how we have played in the last three games, we have adapted better. We were put under pressure against England. But we got a decent score and then the seamers did the job. We lost a wicket in the first over. Then got runs and then the seamers did well. We needed Kohli to go out there and play the situation. We then knew we had to keep it in the right areas and let the pitch do the rest,” added Rohit.
“Not to get too ahead of ourselves has been the talk in the dressing room. A couple of big games coming up. We don't want to change anything.”
Meanwhile, South Africa have lost two games in this World Cup, both while chasing. Even against Pakistan, they chased down a target of 271 with only one wicket remaining. “We know the challenge of chasing and the narrative around it, and we didn't help it today. We have lost chasing. We had conversations with our batters,” said Proteas skipper Temba Bavuma.
“They got 90 in the first 10 overs. We did well after that. Curbed down the run-rate. Sharma kind of set it up. Kohli and Iyer had a good partnership. The wicket played the way we suspected it well. We were not able to adapt, unfortunately. Potentially, we might play here again in the semis.”