"If Rohit and Kohli are picking up wickets, then everything is good" - Aakash Chopra on India's bowling in 2023 World Cup win vs the Netherlands
Aakash Chopra has light-heartedly said that Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli picking up a wicket apiece implies that everything is fine with India's bowling.
The Men in Blue set the Netherlands a 411-run target in their 2023 World Cup clash in Bengaluru on Sunday. The hosts then bundled out their opponents for 250, with the two batting greats also being among the wickets, to complete a convincing 160-run win.
Reflecting on India's bowling in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra was elated about Kohli and Rohit striking blows with the ball. He said (7:15):
"The most interesting thing for me was Kohli's wicket. He is a player who picked up his first wicket on the zeroth ball, it was a wide. That was also down the leg side, I think it was Kevin Pietersen, and here also he dismissed the batter down the leg side."
The former India opener added:
"KL Rahul took a good catch. So the wrong-footed slow-medium menace picked up a wicket and Rohit Sharma also took a wicket in the end. This was incredible. If Rohit and Kohli are picking up wickets, then everything is good."
Kohli got Scott Edwards caught down the leg side by KL Rahul and finished with figures of 1/13 in three overs. Rohit conceded seven runs in five deliveries but sealed India's win by having Teja Nidamanuru, the Netherlands' top-scorer, caught by Mohammed Shami at long-on.
"It was the Indian team's rule that whoever didn't score a century had to bowl" - Aakash Chopra
![Suryakumar Yadav went wicketless and conceded 17 runs in the two overs he bowled. [P/C: AP]](https://statico.sportskeeda.com/editor/2023/11/5af44-16998506413303-1920.jpg?w=500)
Aakash Chopra observed that Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul, the two centurions in India's innings, were the only players who weren't given the ball. He said (7:50):
"Shubman Gill was also made to bowl. Suryakumar Yadav was also made to bowl. Nine bowlers were made to bowl. In fact, it was the Indian team's rule that whoever didn't score a century had to bowl because Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul were the only two guys left who didn't bowl."
Chopra pointed out that Mohammed Shami was the only frontline Indian bowler to go wicketless. He stated:
"Mohammed Shami was the unfortunate one to go wicketless, or else everyone picked up wickets. This also happens at times. India won the match convincingly. No box has been left unticked. You have won nine out of nine matches and the mission domination has happened."
Shami, who has been on a wicket-taking spree, couldn't add to his tally and conceded 41 runs in six overs. Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, and Ravindra Jadeja picked up two wickets apiece.