On the eve of their critical Super Eight match with India in the ICC World T20, Australian opener David Warner came out in defense of Virat Kohli, saying that he doesn't feel it is right to criticize a batter over his strike rate.
Kohli, who scored 24 and 37 in the Super Eight games against Afghanistan and Bangladesh respectively, bounced back from his disappointing act in the group stage games in New York.
Warner pointed out the passion Kohli has for the game and how he has the knack to indetermine for runs. "It's just his passion for the game, like, he's got a knack for indetermination just for scoring runs and hunger to score runs. You know, he cops a lot of criticism, which is not right. I don't know why he cops it, but there are a lot of people out there who are big Virat supporters, like all of us," said Warner while praising Kohli during an interview on Star Sports.
Reflecting on facing India, Warner added, "Now, we're in awe of the great players that have played this game, and we're fortunate to take the field with. So, you know, for him, he consistently goes about his business how he does. You know, he scores a lot of runs. He's a good team man and he competes hard. And that's what we like about coming up against the Indian cricket team."
India has swept all their Super Eight matches, while Australia lost to Afghanistan in their last game. A win for India in this game will ensure their place in the semis with England and South Africa as the other opponents.
Australian spinner Adam Zampa accepted the challenge of strong batting line-up of India while saying, "I mean, looking forward, hopefully, to the Super 8s in the finals, there's going to be huge challenges. You look down the India's line up, Virat, Rohit. All those guys were obvious names who've been around for a long time," Zampa said.
While captioning Rohit Sharma's batting skills and leadership aspirations, Tim David said, "Something about Rohit is that naturally, he is so good to watch how he plays. He's effortless the way he bats. You'd always sit down and watch him bat and it's such a joy. But I think he's got to care about his teammates which obviously he's in that role as India's captain. And I know that he's pretty hungry for a world title as well," he said.
