T20 World Cup 2021: Virat Kohli's 'fitting' reply to question on dropping Rohit Sharma

The India vs Pakistan match in the T20 World Cup 2021 was expected to be a cracking contest. However, it was a letdown for the Indian fans as Pakistan crushed India by 10 wickets to break their World Cup jinx against the Men in Blue in Dubai on Sunday. The Pakistani team had never defeated India on the World Cup stage before. 

On Sunday, however, Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan ensured that the World Cup win finally arrived for the Men In Green. The Indian batting order had no answer to the brilliant bowling effort from the Pakistani side, especially by Shaheen Shah Afridi who dismissed both KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma.

Kohli laughs when asked if he'll drop Rohit Sharma    

Rohit Sharma was expected to be among the run-getters in the match against Pakistan, especially after scoring a fine half-century in India's second warm-up match against Australia. However, Sharma failed to open his account in the match after being dismissed LBW by Shaheen Shah Afridi. During the post-match press conference, Team India skipper Virat Kohli was asked by a journalist about Rohit Sharma being dropped from the side. Kohli laughed off the question, and called it "unbelievable".  

“That’s a very brave question. What do you think, sir? I played the team that I thought was the best. What is your opinion?”. Will you drop Rohit Sharma from T20 international? Will you drop Rohit Sharma? Do you know what he did in the last game we played? Unbelievable (laughs). Sir, if you want controversy, please tell me before so I can answer accordingly,” the India skipper quipped.

During the Post-match conference, Virat Kohli admitted that Pakistan completely outplayed India in the match. He said,  "We didn't execute properly. Credit where it's due and Pakistan outplayed us today. They started brilliantly with the ball, and three wickets for 20 runs was not a good start. We needed wickets early, but with the bat, they gave us absolutely no chances. It played slow in the first half and hitting through the line was not that easy as it was in the second half, after 10 overs. We needed those 15-20 extra runs and for that, we needed a good start but Pakistan's bowling didn't allow us to get those extra runs".

"We could make the argument of getting in another slower bowler, but it's important to stay composed and understand our strengths because with the dew the slower bowlers couldn't be effective either. This is just the first game of the tournament, not the last," Kohli added. 

IND vs PAK T20 World Cup 2021 Highlights

Having won the toss, Pakistan skipper Babar Azam sent India to bat and Pakistan dominated the match right from ball one. India got off to the worst possible start with openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul sent back to the pavilion by Shaheen Afridi within three overs with just six runs on the board.

Afridi had Rohit trapped in front of the wicket for a duck and then bowled Rahul through the gate. Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant then joined forces to add 53 runs in quick time before the latter was caught out by leg-spinner Shadab Khan off his own bowling in the 13th over. Kohli was finally dismissed by Afridi after scoring a 49-ball 57. India was restricted to 151 in their 20 overs. 

Chasing 152 to win, Pakistan openers had no trouble in making light work of the target as Indian bowlers failed to get the breakthrough. Skipper Babar Azam stroked his way to unbeaten 68 runs while his opening partner, Mohammad Rizwan, smashed an unbeaten 79 runs to take the team past the finish line.