look news india
New York, June 13 (HS). Indian captain Rohit Sharma admitted that qualifying for the Super 8 stage of the ongoing T20 World Cup is a big relief for him. India qualified for the Super 8 stage of the T20 World Cup after a 7-wicket win over co-hosts USA in a Group A match at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York on Wednesday.
After the experienced duo of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma departed cheaply in the first three overs, Shivam Dube and Suryakumar Yadav kept their cool and powered India to a 7-wicket win. The duo shared a match-winning partnership of 72 runs.
Rohit said after the match, “It is a big relief, it was not easy to play cricket here. We had to stay till the end in all three matches. These victories will give us a lot of confidence.”
The target of 111 looked too small for a team like India, which has the ability to chase huge scores against the best bowling line-up in the world. Arshdeep finished with incredible figures of 4-9 while Hardik Pandya took two wickets for 14 runs. But the USA pacers tested India's depth with their disciplined line and length. Dube and Suryakumar went against their natural game and helped India successfully chase a tough score in New York.
Rohit said, “We knew it would be a difficult target. The way we kept our patience and made a partnership, credit goes to us. Credit goes to Surya and Dubey for showing maturity and making us win.”
He said, “Surya showed that his game is different, this is what is expected from experienced players. Credit goes to him for the way he led the game and led us to victory.”
There were many familiar faces at the USA camp, which included the likes of Nitish Kumar, Saurabh Netravalkar, Harmeet Singh and Jasdeep Singh. Netravalkar had played with Suryakumar in the Under-15 set-up, while he also played in the Under-19 World Cup in 2010 alongside Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul and several other stars.
Talking about the Indian-American cricketers, Rohit said, “Many of these guys have played cricket together, it's great to see their progress. Saw them in the MLC last year as well, they are all hard-working players.”
Talking about the match, Arshdeep Singh's brilliant bowling (4 overs 9 runs 4 wickets) followed by an unbeaten 72-run partnership between Suryakumar Yadav and Shivam Dubey helped India continue their unbeaten campaign in the ongoing T20 World Cup by defeating co-hosts USA by 7 wickets in a Group A match at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium on Wednesday to secure their place in the Super 8.