New Delhi. Team India is unbeaten so far in World Cup 2023. The Rohit Sharma-led team registered a huge 160-run win over the Netherlands in the last match of the group round of the tournament on Sunday. This is the team’s 9th win in a row. Batting first in the 45th match of the World Cup, the Indian team made a huge score of 410 runs. In reply, the opposing team was limited to 250 runs. Rohit tried 9 bowlers in the match. Apart from Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, Rohit himself held the ball. Rohit and Kohli also got one wicket each. This is scaring Team India. After Hardik Pandya’s injury, the Indian team is going into every match with only 5 regular bowlers. In such a situation, if a bowler proves to be expensive in the semi-finals, then an alternative is being explored as to who should bowl. Team India will face New Zealand in the semi-final on November 15 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Team India’s record against New Zealand in the knockout round of the ICC tournament is not good. It was New Zealand who defeated India in the semi-finals of the 2019 World Cup. Apart from this, Team India also had to face defeat against New Zealand in the final of the 2021 World Test Championship. For the first time, Team India has tried 9 bowlers in an ODI match. This clearly shows that the team management is looking for a sixth option. After the victory, Rohit Sharma said that the sixth bowler is always in our mind. For this reason we tried 9 bowlers. Former Indian legend Mohammad Kaif also called it necessary.
If someone is having a bad day…
During commentary on Hot Star, Mohammad Kaif said that in big matches like semi-finals or finals, it is necessary to have a sixth option. If one of the bowlers is having a bad day, there needs to be a substitute. This is why the team tried everyone from Gill to Suryakumar in the match. In the match against Netherlands, Virat Kohli took one wicket by giving 13 runs in 3 overs. Shubman Gill spent 11 runs in 2 overs and Suryakumar Yadav 17 runs in 2 overs. Rohit Sharma bowled 5 balls. Gave 7 runs and also took a wicket.
Lost by 6 wickets
Talking about the record of Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium, only one ODI between India and New Zealand has been played here so far. In which the Kiwi team has won. This result is also not in favor of Team India. In the match played in October 2017, Team India scored 280 runs for the first 8 wickets. Virat Kohli played a century innings of 121 runs. Left arm fast bowler Trent Boult took 4 wickets. In reply, New Zealand achieved the target by losing 4 wickets in 49 overs. Tom Latham scored an unbeaten 103 and Ross Taylor scored 95 runs.
Virat Kohli is now equal to Sachin Tendulkar, the most runs scored in the World Cup, now he will also get the trophy.
As for World Cup 2023, New Zealand has not played a single match at Wankhede so far. The Indian team has registered a big victory here by 302 runs. Team India, playing first against Sri Lanka, made a huge score of 357 runs. In reply, the Lankan team was bundled out for just 55 runs. In such a scenario, Rohit Sharma and Team India will want to repeat this feat against New Zealand as well.
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Tags: New Zealand, Rohit Sharma, Team India, World Cup 2023
First published: November 13, 2023, 06:01 IST