Rohit Sharma
's last two knocks in the ongoing
T20 World Cup
have highlighted how he tries to lead from the front; and when it comes off, the confidence rubs onto the team and makes the 'Men in Blue' unbeatable. That's exactly how this tournament has panned out for India, who have won all their matches en route to the final, where they will take on tournament's other undefeated team, South Africa, on Saturday in Barbados.
Indian spinners turned the semifinal against England one-sided after Rohit Sharma's half-century (57) and Suryakumar Yadav's 47 helped the 2007 champions to post a challenging 171 for 7 on the board.
Kuldeep Yadav (3 for 19) and Axar Patel (3 for 23) tormented England batters, who succumbed to the guile of India's left-arm spinners and were bowled out for 103, which earned India a 68-run win.
"Bhartiya spinners ne kamar tod ke rakh di England batting ki. Par uss se pehle jo mela sajaya woh Rohit Sharma ne sajaya. Kya aala innings kheli hai (Indian spinners broke the back of England batting, but before that the stage was set by Rohit Sharma; what a brilliant innings he played)," said former Pakistan captain Ramiza Raja on his YouTube channel.
"Mushkil pitch ke upar badi badi shots kheli unhone, lajawaab batting ki, jab chahte hain impossible angle se badi strokes lagate hain (he played big shots on a difficult track and can hit big strokes from impossible angles whenever he wants to)," Ramiz added.
"When a captain plays like that, the team becomes large-hearted. Despite Virat Kohli's failure, he did not stop attacking at the other end."
The 1992 World Cup-winner also reserved special praise for Suryakumar Yadav.
"Suryakumar Yadav, the bigger the match the bigger is his performance. I haven't seen more imaginative T20 batsman than him because the angles he creates no other batsman can at the moment in the world," he said.
Ramiz believed India look the best bet to beat South Africa in the final because they have all bases covered.
"They have the self-confidence, bowling resources, a good captain, temperament is rock solid by winning continuously, (giving them the belief that) we can win from any situation, any position."
English (US) ·