Former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh lauded batting maestro Virat Kohli and comeback man KL Rahul’s stroke play against arch-rivals Pakistan during their massive 233-run unbroken partnership in the Super Four stage of the Asia Cup 2023. The Indian batting duo applied themselves in the wicket before going hard in the final 10 overs to help the Indian side post the joint-highest total against Pakistan in the ODI cricket.
India resumed the game at 147/2 (24.1 overs) at Colombo, with KL Rahul and Virat Kohli starting their innings unbeaten on 17 and 8 respectively, as the experienced batters built the innings with caution at the start on Monday, before putting away the bad ball for the boundaries to put the pressure on the Pakistan bowling attack thereby capitalizing in the final few overs of the game.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Harbhajan Singh was awestruck by the maximum struck by KL Rahul of Shadab Khan’s bowling calling it his shot of the match, and lauded Virat Kohli’s six off the final ball of the innings as a delight to watch. He praised the Indian wicketkeeper-batter for his remarkable comeback to the team following a protracted injury.
“The shot by KL Rahul against Shadab Khan, where he used his wrists to hit towards midwicket, was the shot of the match in my opinion. But, if any stroke can match that and challenge it, it was Kohli’s six off the last ball of the innings.
“It is not easy to return after an injury, but KL Rahul played brilliantly to mark a memorable comeback. It was total domination by India, the ball did not beat their bats even once and the bowlers had no answers at all,” Harbhajan Singh said.
KL Rahul made his long-awaited comeback from injury replacing Shreyas Iyer in the final moment of the game. He hit an unbeaten 111 runs off 106 deliveries as he looked very good in the middle overs of the game, while the former Indian skipper Virat Kohli was at his usual best in ODI cricket scoring his 47th International hundred in the 50-over format of the game.
Let’s Hope That The Form Lasts Until The World Cup – Harbhajan Singh
Harbhajan Singh feels that the target set by India for Pakistan is way too high for them to chase down and lauded the Indian batters for playing very well against the quality Pakistan bowlers and highlighted the brilliant start by the Indian openers on Sunday and wants them to continue form going into the ODI World Cup in India.
“The target was so huge that Pakistan could only look at it, and not chase it down. Everyone was talking about Pakistan’s bowling strength, myself included, but the Indian batters just played too well. Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill set the tone at the start of the innings, they set a really good foundation. Let’s hope that the form lasts until the World Cup,” Harbhajan Singh added.
India captain Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill played a counter-attacking knock to score 56 and 58 respectively before losing wickets quickly one after the other and they will look to give the Indian side a much-needed start at the top in forthcoming games.