"When the next match is India-Pakistan, you want to go to that match after scoring runs" - Gautam Gambhir lauds Rohit Sharma's century vs AFG

Gautam Gambhir believes Rohit Sharma's century in India's World Cup 2023 clash against Afghanistan will hold him in good stead in their next game against arch-rivals Pakistan.

Hashmatullah Shahidi and Co. set the Men in Blue a 273-run target in Delhi on Wednesday, October 11. Rohit then smoked 131 runs off 84 deliveries as the two-time champions chased down the target with eight wickets and 15 overs to spare to begin their campaign with two successive wins.

While reviewing the game on Star Sports, Gambhir was asked about his thoughts on Rohit's knock, to which he responded:

"You won't just look at the quality but the sort of shots that were played. You can ignore the attack because of the way he dominated, these are great signs that it has come early in the World Cup."

The former Indian opener added:

"He didn't score runs in the first match but the way he batted today, especially when the next match is India-Pakistan, you want to go to that match after scoring runs. You don't want to go with two back-to-back failures and Rohit Sharma will get a lot of confidence from this knock."

Gambhir concluded by stating that no praise was enough for the Indian skipper for the tempo he maintained and the class he exhibited.

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"He has his template set" - Piyush Chawla on Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma struck 16 fours and five sixes during his innings. [P/C: AP]

Former Indian leg-spinner Piyush Chawla was asked about Rohit Sharma telling Ishan Kishan that he will continue to be aggressive and that the youngster shouldn't change his game because of that, to which he replied:

"He has his template set. In the middle, it was happening quite a few times that when he was batting well, instead of taking time, he was trying to hit from the first ball itself."

The leg-spinner added that his Mumbai Indians skipper is virtually unstoppable once he is in full flow. He stated:

"However, today the good thing was that he saw what was happening in the first two overs and then once Rohit starts, we all know it's very difficult to stop him. The best thing is that he doesn't take that much risk, just plays cricketing shots based on the merit of the ball."

Chawla pointed out that Rohit's strokeplay makes bowlers believe they have bowled a bad ball. This then leads the bowlers to over-correct their line and length, which is again punished by the Indian skipper.