New Delhi, June 22, 2024
Former legendary batter Brian Lara feels that India captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will come out all guns blazing against Bangladesh in the Super Eight match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup on Saturday.
India are unbeaten in the tournament with four wins including the one against Afghanistan in their Super Eight opener. However, the opening partnerships of Rohit and Kohli have failed to give them a solid foundation in the tournament so far.
Kohli has been elevated for the opening role following his stellar Indian Premier League (IPL) season with Royal Challengers Bengaluru but the former captain is yet to replicate his form in Indian colours. He has scored 1, 4, 0 and 24 respectively.
On the other hand, Rohit has also been struggling to score runs barring the unbeaten half-century against Ireland in their tournament opener.
Ahead of the match against Bangladesh, Lara predicted that Rohit and Kohli would stage a three-figure opening stand at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua.
“India is going to be 100 without loss in that match if they bat first, right? And even if they bat second, they are going to be 100 without loss.
Of course, Fizz is an amazing bowler. He is going to come out and threaten but I just feel that India is just too much and that roller coaster and, you know, they just seem to roll every team at the moment and that’s how I think it’s going to happen.”
“India is very concerned about the opening partnership, and they’re going to fix that against Bangladesh. I don’t think that Bangladesh is going to be a threat,” Lara told Star Sports.
The veteran added that their opening concern will come to an end if the star duo performs against Bangladesh.
“Yeah. I think the Indian team expects a good opening partnership. Everything is falling into place. This World Cup is a World Cup where no team is very dominant because of the state of the pitches.
But if India can solve the opening problem, and it’s not a problem, it’s the two best T20 players in the world, they are not going to run right now,” the former West Indies batter said.
“But I think in this home run, I think it’s going to give India that impetus that is needed going into the back-end of the tournament of the semi-finals and the finals. So, this match, I think that those two great players, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are going to come to the fore,” Lara added.
During an optional training session in Antigua, Rohit and Kohli had a vigorous batting practice at the nets.(Agency)
