India have depended on Rohit Sharma and skipper Virat Kohli to fire each time and it's this friendly rivalry that has helped the Men in Blue enter semis
Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma
Birmingham: It's a well known fact that India rely heavily on their two world-class batsmen — Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. And both have delivered impressively to help India make it to the semi-finals of the World Cup with a game in hand.
Interestingly, the way Kohli had been playing in the build-up to this tournament, many expected him to make the World Cup his own. Instead, he has been overshadowed by opener Rohit, who has notched up four centuries in seven starts. Kohli isn't too far behind, having scored five successive half-centuries here.
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The only concern for Kohli, if we can call it a concern, is that he has not been able to convert the half-centuries into hundreds despite having an impressive career conversion rate. He has 41 centuries to 54 half-centuries in 234 ODIs. However, Kohli's lack of a big innings augurs well for India while the tournament enters the business end as it will surely drive him to play a big knock in the knockouts.
Rohit meanwhile, has been the sheet-anchor of the Indian batting, despite losing his ever reliable partner Shikhar Dhawan to injury. He has now forged a good alliance with KL Rahul and the two have provided the team with a solid platform, like the 180 they put on against Bangladesh — the highest opening stand in the tournament.
The obvious difference between Rohit and Kohli is that the former, being an opener, gets sufficient time to pace his innings and has enough time to get to a century. On the other hand, Kohli has had to force the pace when he has looked set for a hundred and in the process, lost his wicket. The duo have covered up for the shortcomings in India's weak and inexperienced middle-order, which is yet to fire.
Rohit's stats speak of his invaluable contribution, as he is now the leading scorer in the competition with 544 runs in seven innings. He has potentially three more innings to score 130 runs more and become the highest run-getter in a single edition, surpassing Sachin Tendulkar's 673 in 2003. And if he can get another century, he will also surpass Kumar Sangakkara's record of four centuries in an edition.
Rohit himself though does not wish to go overboard with records. "Oh! I thought I just got a 100 today. My mantra is whatever has happened in the past is in the past. Those in form have to bat long and get the team to a big score. If someone's batting well through the tournament and the team looks up to him to bat for as many overs as possible because he's in such form, then I am happy to do that work. Though I have never played with the intention of scoring a century, if it comes during my effort, it is satisfying indeed. And now to get four, it is really satisfying as it has helped the team to make it to the semi-finals," Rohit said after his century against Bangladesh.
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