Thereafter, India's captain Rohit Sharma, adjudged Player of the Match for his scintillating 92 off 41 against Australia, underlined the fact that personal milestones in terms of half-centuries and hundreds were not on his radar; he was there to unsettle the bowlers early in the game.
This was followed by a slump in form for Rohit, who scored 13, 3, 8, and 23 in the next four matches, before he exploded against Australia in an important Super Eight clash of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup. Rohit's intent was pretty clear as the right-handed opener flourished with seven fours and eight sixes on his way to his stumps flying all over the place at an astonishing strike-rate of 224.39, leaving the audience in awe.
While being asked about his mindset in the game, Rohit said, "I have told you in my last post-match presentation, the 50s and 100 don't matter. Wanted to come back with the same sort of tempo and carried on playing shots wherever it is necessary. Just wanted to try and put the bowlers under pressure, let them think where to bowl and what to do when you're set like that."
Though he did admit the hunger for big scores, Rohit said it was important to keep the bowlers guessing and make use of the entire field. "You want to carry on and make big scores, yes, but at the same time, you know, you want to let the bowlers also think where the next shot is coming from. And that is something I thought I managed to do that pretty well today - Trying to access all sides of the field and hitting just not just in one area, but all sides of the field," he added.
While Rohit came up with his towering performance, Surya Kumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, and Hardik Pandya contributed 31, 28, and an unbeaten 27 respectively to help India reach a challenging total of 205/5 with a record 15 sixes in a T20 World Cup game.
The Indian bowlers dominated from then on with Kuldeep Yadav returning 2 for 24 that included the key wicket of Glenn Maxwell and Arshdeep Singh returning 3 for 37 as the visitors were eventually restricted to 181 for 7 in their quota of 20 overs. That win sealed for India an unbeaten streak in the Super Eight round.
Their next challenge will be against defending champions England in the second semi-final in Guyana on 27 June, and the winner will go through for the final in Barbados on 29 June.
Catch all the action from the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 live and free on mobile via Disney Hotstar.
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