"Chasing 97 on that pitch is not as easy as Rohit made it look" - Fans hail Indian skipper for sublime half-century vs Ireland in 2024 T20 World Cup

Indian skipper Rohit Sharma kickstarted his 2024 T20 World Cup campaign in style with a glorious half-century against Ireland in New York on June 5. Chasing 97 on a treacherous batting wicket, the 37-year-old enjoyed a few lucky escapes early in his innings before getting into his own.

Rohit brought up his half-century off only 36 deliveries before retiring hurt on 52 off 37 balls due to a hit on his shoulders. During his sublime knock, the champion batter also joined Virat Kohli and Babar Azam in the 4000-run mark in T20Is.

Rohit is now on 4,026 runs at an average of 32.20 and a strike rate of almost 140 in his illustrious 152-match T20I career.

The New York pitch has been a struggle for all the batters until now in the tournament. The South Africa-Sri Lanka contest earlier in the week witnessed the lowest combined run rate of 4.42 in T20 World Cup history.

Batting was once again difficult for all the other batters from Ireland and India, further enhancing the class of Rohit's essay.

Fans on Twitter praised the Indian skipper for his delightful knock with the below reactions:

Fans continued praising Rohit for his sensational half-century with one saying:

"Rohit Sharma played a very good knock. After failing in ipl, to scoring 50 in opening match of T20WC. A very good comeback and hopefully he carries his form forward in this T20 wc."

"Chasing 97 on that pitch is not as easy as Rohit made it look. 50(36) is just mind blowing," said a fan.

"Credit where it’s due Rohit Sharma has been absolutely fantastic on a difficult track. He’s showing there aren’t too many demons on this wicket when you apply yourself. What a knock! A 50 with a 140 SR on a track where 3 different sets of batsmen have failed to even play at 100SR. Fabulous!" tweeted a fan.

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"Don't think the wicket settled down even when we batted second" - Rohit Sharma

Indian captain Rohit Sharma admitted that the New York wicket had plenty for the bowlers throughout their 2024 T20 World Cup opener against Ireland.

After the low-scoring South Africa-Sri Lanka affair at the same venue, the batters from Ireland and India continued to struggle for consistency in strokeplay. However, Rohit's half-century and a 26-ball 36* from Rishabh Pant ensured India completed the win in the 13th over with eight wickets in hand.

At the post-match presentation, Rohit said:

"I said it at the toss as well. Quite unsure of what to expect from the pitch. Not aware on what it is to play like on a pitch that's five months old. I don't think the wicket settled down even when we batted second. There was enough for the bowlers."

India will take on arch-rivals Pakistan in their next encounter at the same venue on Sunday, June 9.