In a gripping match at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, India showcased dominance by defeating Ireland by 8 wickets with 46 balls to spare in the World T20 encounter. Ireland posted 96 runs in 16 overs, but India efficiently chased down the target, reaching 97/2 in 12.2 overs. Rohit Sharma's brilliant 52 off 37 balls and Rishabh Pant's unbeaten 36 off 26 balls led India to victory. Jasprit Bumrah's exceptional bowling performance earned him the Player of the Match title for his 2 wickets for 6 runs in 3 overs.

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Sunil Gavaskar makes a huge statement about Virat Kohli's failure vs Ireland

On Wednesday, Virat Kohli suffered a rare setback in a game when Rohit Sharma surpassed several milestones and Hardik Pandya reached new heights. In the T20 World Cup 2024 opening against  Ireland, Indian captain Rohit Sharma and the in-form Kohli were significantly involved. Yashasvi Jaiswal was left out of India's top order at Nassau County International Cricket Stadium by Kohli's opening role.

While Kohli had a bad day, mistiming an ambitious stroke and leaving for only one run off five balls, Rohit Sharma launched an aggressive display. With 14 of his 25 innings yielding scores of 50 or more, before this game, Kohli had an astounding T20 World Cup average of 81.5, thus this was an odd setback. Sadly, Kohli scored his lowest score in T20 World Cup history as his mistimed shot left a thick edge that third man Benjamin White collected.

Legendary cricket expert Sunil Gavaskar wished Kohli would get well and perform well in the next Twenty20 World Cup match against Pakistan. Speaking on the post-match analysis at Star Sports show, Gavaskar expressed confidence in Kohli's ability to bounce back from the setback. He said:

“The way I look at it is…great players like Steve Smith, Virat Kohli, Babar Azam and Joe Root. They fail in one match; they wanna make up for it in the next match. They want to score double the runs. So whatever runs he might not have gotten (against Ireland), you know, he wants to score double the runs. And who better to score double the runs than against Pakistan,”

Indian cricket team will now face off against Pakistan on Sunday, June 9, 2024. It will be an intense match with high stakes for both teams. Kohli will look to bounce back and give Babar Azam and his team a hard time on the US turf. The match is expected to be a thrilling showdown between the two rivals.