India head coach, Ravi Shastri, lauded team India’s performance ahead of the India-New Zealand semi-final match on Tuesday in the ongoing ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup. In a video posted by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Twitter, Shastri praised Indian players for their brilliant performance in the tournament. Shastri hailed Rohit Sharma and said that he is one of the greatest ODI players. The 32-year-old Indian batsman has been in great form in the World Cup so far scoring 647 runs from eight innings. Sharma is the only batsman who has scored five centuries in the ongoing tournament. He has broken Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara’s record for scoring the most centuries in a single edition of the World Cup. Sharma has been providing a steady start to the Indian innings and he has the ability to accelerate when required. “He is one of the greatest ODI players, whether he has scored runs in the competition or not. Just seeing his records over the year, three double hundreds in ODI, no one has done that and he is been really consistent for India,” Shastri said. Shastri further praised India bowlers for their spirited performance in the World Cup so far. He complimented Mohammad Shami’s bowling spell against Afghanistan where he clinched a hat-trick. “Chahal has got a great temperament as he attacks the batsmen and looks for a wicket, that was the need of the hour. The team that improved like hell, Afghanistan. The match went down to the wire and you needed something special and Shami delivered for us,” he said. Speaking about the need to have good bowlers, he said: “In this format of the game, we got to have good death bowlers who can take wickets and restrict the opponent, and in Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar we got two good ones,” he added. Shastri hailed all-rounder Hardik Pandya and said he is one who can bat and can also deliver 10 overs when required. “He has come along as a bowler, we are getting full 10 overs out of him. He reads the condition well, knows where to use the off-cutters and the slow bouncers. So, his reading of the game is good which is a massive help for the side when you have the batsman as flamboyant as him who can also bowl,” Shashtri said. Shastri concluded and said our job is to get out and perform as an individual and as a team. “I thought god was in England’s dressing room that day. Hope if we play England next, he sits in ours. Nothing else to worry about. Our job is to get out there and do our job, as an individual and as a team,” he said. India will take on New Zealand in the semi-final match later in the day.
