Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah helped India beat Bangladesh by 28 runs at Edgbaston in Birmingham on Tuesday. With this win, India reached 13 points in the World Cup points table and became only the second team after Australia to qualify for the semi-finals. Rohit Sharma once again fired with the bat and got India off to a good start. After the win Virat Kohli felt relieved that India have qualified for the knockouts. He also heaped praise on Rohit Sharma who scored his record fourth century in World Cup 2019.
Speaking about Rohit's performance, Kohli said, "I have been watching it for years now. He's the best One-day player around and we are so delighted to see him. When he plays like that, everybody is happy to see him strike this so well."
Kohli also acknowledged the fight put up by Bangladesh not just in this game but throughout the tournament.
"I mean Bangladesh has played some really good cricket in the tournament. They deserve a lot of credit for the fight they put up, even till the last wicket I think they were in the game," he said.
After losing to England at the same venue, Indian team made two changes in the playing XI and went in with four bowlers and all-rounder Hardik Pandya.
Mentioning the reason behind this, Kohli said, "I know five bowlers was a gamble, but it was keeping in mind the ground dimensions. We wanted to play the perfect combination for the small boundary".
Jasprit Bumrah ended with the figures of 4/55 in his 10 overs and it was his two yorkers that wrapped the Bangladesh innings. Kohli was mighty impressed by his performance and reiterated that he is the No. 1 bowler at the moment.
"Bumrah's overs were always going to be crucial, you can bank on him. He's the number 1 bowler at the moment and he can execute his plans," Kohli said, praising Bumrah.
India next play Sri Lanka in their final league match on July 6 before heading to the big knockout game. India are likely to finish either one or two depending on how Australia fare in the last match.
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