Is India Too Dependent on Kohli-Rohit? Kaif Fires Direct Question
Kaif claims India’s batting still depends on Kohli and Rohit, urging BCCI to rethink team balance after their match-winning stand vs South Africa.
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After India's first ODI victory against South Africa, a whole lot of debate came up again in the cricket circles and elsewhere as ex-batter Mohammad Kaif warned that the team was still very much dependent upon Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. His comments were made just after the experienced duo had made it possible for a turning point in the match by changing its direction together.
Kaif, while talking on his YouTube channel, mentioned that the game would have gotten away from the Indians very quickly if they had lost both the senior players one after the other. India's batting line-up had begun to stumble at the start, and the two veterans' taking pressure off and gradual running were the main things that mattered for the chase of a competitive total.
Kaif opined that had there been such a situation of a collapse, India would have been left grappling even with the 200-run mark. He showcased that the very depth and expertise of Kohli and Rohit are still the team’s safety net during the tight situations of playing conditions or falling early wickets.
After Yashasvi Jaiswal’s dismissal by Nandre Burger, Kohli and Rohit added 136 runs for the second wicket. The partnership counted their 392nd time together in international cricket and their 20th century partnership in ODIs, thus being joint-second along with the great Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly in the all-time list after the first pair.
Kaif remarked that the dependence on the senior duo is very evident despite the fact that the discussions of introducing the younger ones are still going on. He said that the team may have many emerging players to choose from, but still, no one has been able to perform under pressure consistently like Kohli and Rohit.
He mentioned that Kohli's century — 135 in 120 balls with 11 fours and 7 sixes — was the main contributor to India’s score. Rohit, with his 57 off 51 balls, kept the tempo up during the early batting phase. Kaif compared the duo’s performance in this game to their partnership in the first Test against Australia in Sydney, where they had to do the same again.
He also said that India’s poor performance in ODIs was partially due to the Test series loss but that the win in ODIs helped to lift the team’s spirits. Kaif said for this match the team again relied on its most senior players because the younger ones still have to work on the consistency aspect of their game.
Eventually, India crossed the mark of a formidable total, with the old warhorses' partnership making the difference in the end.
