Rohit Sharma Praises Kuldeep Yadav’s Hard Work and Rhythm

On September 12th, an enthralling cricket match unfolded at Colombo’s R. Premadasa Stadium, where Sri Lankan spinners Dunith Wellalage and Charith Asalanka took center stage, jointly capturing all nine Indian wickets and triggering a batting collapse. Despite winning the toss and choosing to bat, the Indian openers faced difficulties against Sri Lanka’s pace bowlers.
However, the game dynamics shifted significantly with the introduction of spinners. Dunith Wellalage secured five crucial wickets, while Charith Asalanka claimed four, limiting only three Indian batsmen—Rohit Sharma (53), Ishan Kishan (33), and KL Rahul (39)—to exceed 30 runs. Rain halted play after 47 overs, with India at 197/9. After the rain delay, Sri Lankan pacers swiftly wrapped up India’s innings at 213.
In pursuit of a 214-run target, Sri Lanka lost five early wickets to the Indian pace attack but ultimately fell short by 41 runs, despite commendable efforts from Dhananjaya de Silva (41) and Dunith Wellalage (42).

Rohit Sharma at the Post match Presentation

Rohit Sharma was a happy captain after a hard fought satisfying victory. India have now qualified for the final of the Asia Cup. Rohit Sharma, reflecting on the gripping cricket match, expressed satisfaction with the challenging game played under pressure, which tested various aspects of their team’s performance. He emphasized the desire to continue playing on such pitches to gauge their capabilities.
“It was a good game. For us also to play a game like that under pressure. Challenged a lot of aspects of our game. We definitely want to play on pitches like to see what we can achieve,” Rohit said.
Rohit praised Hardik Pandya for his dedicated efforts in improving his bowling skills over the past few years and commended his impressive spell in the match.
“He’s worked hard on his bowling over the last couple of years, and it’s pleasing to see how he bowled that spell.”

He acknowledged that defending the target was no easy task, especially as the pitch improved towards the end, requiring the team to maintain composure and consistent bowling. Regarding Kuldeep Yadav, Rohit noted his consistent and improved performance in the past year, attributing it to hard work on his rhythm, and highlighted the valuable options he brings to the team.
“Not an easy target to defend. Pitch got slightly better towards the end so we had to hold our nerve and bowl consistently. [Kuldeep?] Again for the past year or so bowling really well. He’s worked hard on his rhythm and you can see the results in the last 15 ODIs he’s played. He gives us a lot of options. So going forward it’s a pretty good sign,” he concluded.

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