BIRMINGHAM: Premier India batsmen Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma need support from the middle order heading into the knockout phase of the World Cup, feels former captain K Srikkanth.
Srikkanth, who was part of the victorious 1983 World Cup team, said India should use the defeat to England in Sunday’s match as a learning experience instead of pressing the panic button.
“There are still some problems for India to fix, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are the main run-getters at the moment and they need some support,” Srikkanth wrote in his column for the ICC.
“Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami were both superb again with the ball as well, but the spinners had an off-day – these things can happen,” he added.
While Rohit scored his third century of the tournament, Kohli made his fifth fifty-plus scores, but India’s spinners were taken to the task.
“India are still going to qualify for the semi-finals, it is just a question of when and in what position in the top four.
“Defeat to England is certainly not a disaster, it was a fantastic game of cricket and really you have to say India were totally outplayed by the better team.
“They have to accept their defeat in a gracious manner and move on to their final two games against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka,” the former opener said. (AGENCIES)
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