“It’s like going into a CBSE Maths exam” – Ravichandran Ashwin backs experienced Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to deliver in 2024 T20 World Cup
Ravichandran Ashwin has backed India captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to deliver as openers for the Men in Blue at the 2024 T20 World Cup. The legendary off-spinner believes that experience will be handy because of their adaptability. Ashwin reckons that the two senior batters will find answers to every question regardless of the circumstance.
The reaction comes on the eve of India’s T20 World Cup opener against Ireland at Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York on June 5. The Men in Blue will look to make the best use of the game time to prepare for the Indo-Pak high-octane clash at the same venue on June 9.
Ashwin said on his YouTube channel:
“It’s like going into a CBSE Maths exam where you necessarily haven’t seen the sums, but you know the formula. So, Virat and Rohit know what to expect there. They will be able to find the answers even if the conditions are not in their favor.”
The 37-year-old added:
“I feel like Virat Kohli is gonna be top in those conditions because of what happens in the West Indies, you need to see T20 cricket has gone so far that you can be skewed by what’s happened in the IPL.
"In conditions like the West Indies, you must be able to adapt, you must have the ability to say, ‘I’ve been there, I’ve done it, I’ve seen this.’ And, these are the answers.”
In T20Is, Kohli and Rohit have shared a partnership for 1217 runs in 34 innings, including three centuries and five fifty stands (not necessarily as openers).
What are Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s T20I records in West Indies?
Virat Kohli, the leading run-getter in T20Is, has scored 112 runs in three innings at a strike rate of 141.77 in the West Indies. The right-hander has returned with scores of 59, 14, and 39, respectively. Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma has 185 in six innings at a strike rate of 145.67. The stylish opener has registered figures – 64, 0, 79*, 5, 26, and 11* in the island country.
Overall, Kohli and Rohit have scored 4,037 (109 innings) and 3974 runs (143 inns) in T20Is. The latter would look to become the third batter after Kohli and Pakistan captain Babar Azam to reach 4,000 runs in the shortest format.