Virat Kohli, whose batting form was being questioned before the Asia Cup, silenced all his critics with another hal-century in the ongoing tournament.
Virat Kohli’s brilliant 60 off 44 helped India to reach 181 for 7 against Pakistan.
Indian captain Rohit Sharma was all praise for Virat Kohli.
“The form is brilliant (talking about Kohli). Needed someone to bat long when the others were getting out. He batted with that tempo as well. Virat getting that score was crucial from the team’s point of view,” Rohit said after the match.
The Indian captain said that a total of 181 was always a good one and he didn’t think that they were 10-15 short.
“It’s a good learning for us. I thought it was a good score. Any pitch, any conditions when you get 180 it’s a good score,” Rohit said.
“We got to learn a lot today – what sort of mindset we need to have when defending a score like that. Like I said you’ve got to give credit to Pakistan. They’ve played better than us,” Rohit added.
India scored 93 runs in the first ten overs but managed only 88 in the last ten. Indian skipper said that losing wickets of Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya in quick succession shifted the momentum.
“Wickets of Hardik and Rishabh was not needed at that time. But we want to play with an open mindset. While taking that approach you’ll not always have success,” he said.
Rohit admitted that the 73-run stand between Mohammed Nawaz and Mohammed Rizwan stretched more than he had expected.
“It’s a high-pressure game we know that. You’ve got to be at it every time. A game like that can take a lot. We were calm even when there was a partnership between Rizwan and Nawaz. But that partnership obviously went a little long and they batted brilliantly. We understand the pitch gets slightly better in the second innings,” he said.