I Know How You Felt About Missing Out in 2011 -Kohli Interviews Rohit Sharma
NEW DELHI : Virat Kohli, who has scored five half-centuries in World Cup 2019, continues to lead the charts in the ICC Men’s ODI Batsmen Rankings while Rohit Sharma, who entered the record books after scoring his fifth century of the ongoing World Cup 2019, has bridged the gap significantly, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said in a press release.
With 647 runs from eight innings, Rohit Sharma is the leading run-scorer in the World Cup 2019while Kohli is ninth in the list after scoring 442 runs at an average of 63.14.
Kohli’s performances in the ongoing tournament have seen him gain one point and reach 891 points while Rohit bridged the gap from 51 points to only six as he reached a career high of 885 points.
According to the ICC press release, England and India both have 123 rating points but England pipped India on decimal points to achieve the top spot in the ODI Team Rankings. The other two semi-finalists New Zealand and Australia both are on 112 rating points with the former fractionally ahead.
India’s new-ball bowler Jasprit Bumrah has extended his lead at the top of Bowler Rankings from 21 points to 56 points after grabbing 17 wickets in the nine league matches at the World Cup, with Boult remaining in second place after a memorable league phase that included a hat-trick against Australia.
Pakistan’s Babar Azam retained his third spot in Batsmen Rankings while Australia opener David Warner re-entered the top-10 at number six after he scored 638 runs in the league stage of World Cup 2019.
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson’s consistent efforts have seen him rise four places and back into the top-10 at eighth place. England openers Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow have both risen in the rankings with Roy reaching a career-best 13th place.
Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan has retained the top spot among all-rounders, while England’s Ben Stokes has gained nine places to reach second position.
Following a record breaking fifth ton in the World Cup, Rohit Sharma was interviewed by none other than the Indian skipper Virat Kohli after India’s victory against Sri Lanka.
Describing him as the man of the tournament so far, Kohli asked the opener about his scintillating run. Rohit Sharma leads the run getters list with an aggregate of 647 runs coming at a splendid average of 92.43.
Rohit remarked, “It is an important tournament for us. We had some really good form coming into the World Cup. As a top order batsman, I wanted to carry on the form I had in the past, coming into a tournament like the World Cup. When you start off really well again South Africa, I just carried on the confidence.”
“As a cricketer we don’t look into the past, the present is important. I’m just trying to focus on that and see where we can take the team as a batting unit””The World Cup is a premiere tournament. The focus should always be on your routine, what you try and do in the bilateral games” Rohit told bcci.tv.
Virat Kohli asserted that it had been a decade of them playing together and recalled how the Indian opener was dejected after being dropped for the 2011 World Cup squad. He also lauded the vice captain for his stupendous batting. “It has been absolutely maginificent to watch him bat and hopefully two more big scores and we can all lift that cup together”The official BCCI handle also shared a small clip of their interaction on Twitter.
Rohit Sharma’s consistency at the top order has allowed India to begin strongly in almost every game and laid the platform for the middle order to finish well. The Indian vice captain would be willing to continue the same form in the knockouts as well. After finishing on top of the points table, India will be facing New Zealand in the first semifinal at Manchester on Tuesday.(With Agency Inputs ).
