Virat Kohli eulogizes Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya for brilliant performance

Virat Kohli praises the Mumbai Indians duo Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya as they showed great character in the final T20 match at Bristol. Hardik Pandya begun miserably as he was hit for 22 runs in his first over but how well he fought back with the ball taking four important wickets and also finishing the game in style was highly commendable.

“The comeback from the bowlers was outstanding. At one stage we thought they’d end up getting 225-230. But the character they showed, that’s something we’re very proud of. Just hit our areas better I guess,” Kohli said at the post match presentation ceremony.

“We have the qualities to bowl wicket-taking deliveries as well. 25-30 runs in this format can be massive,” he added. Talking about the run chase, Pandya is a really good all-round cricketer. He’s confident with his skills with bat and ball. The way he came back after his first over is what you want to see as a captain. It was difficult for the bowlers,” he added.

Also read: Rampaging Rohit Sharma seals series win with a ton

Rohit Sharma won the man of the series award. He talked about the importance of being present at the crease and significance of spending time in the middle in order to get the timing right.

“That’s the style of my play. Assessing conditions was important at the start of the innings. Once we see off the new ball, we always knew wicket was a good one with short boundaries. Held my shape well. I like to be calm, not to panic too much. I know once you’re there, you can make it up later. Always important to try and assess the bowlers as well. With four fielders inside, there’s always that option to take chances,” said Rohit Sharma.

“It was a tremendous start with the bat. Roy and Buttler prove a dominant force at the top but we didn’t do their platform justice. Normally it’s one of the best parts of our game. On a small ground on a flat wicket we’re expected to score more than that. Difficult to defend on grounds like this. It’s more the conditions. Teams like Pakistan, India, they have a big following and we’re used to it. Hopefully we can learn as we go along. This series has had three different tests for us. It’s exciting. Trent Bridge has been a good ground for us. The last couple of times we’ve lost the toss there, we’ve been able to get a result.”, said Eoin Morgan.