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India vs New Zealand semi-final: 3 googlies that could upset Virat Kohli's WC 2019 plans

Speed News Desk | Updated on: 8 July 2019, 12:39 IST
Kohli Rohit Jadeja Dhoni

Rohit Sharma—the most lethal weapon of Indian captain Virat Kohli's arsenal in the World Cup 2019—when asked about his dropped catch against Bangladesh replied: "Fortunes favours the brave, I believe". Rohit has scored five centuries in eight matches of the world cup 2019. He becomes unstoppable once he settles and starts scoring the runs. The Hitman Rohit has amply been supported by good luck as in most of the innings, barring the last one against Sri Lanka, he got dropped early in the match. Had this not happened, the results could have been different.

Rohit can run out of luck

Till today, India has actually played only eight matches—rain washed out the match against New Zealand—and Rohit has scored five centuries, and one half-century (57 against Australia).
Clearly, it is crucial that Rohit gives India a strong start and puts up good runs on the scoreboard. Now, what bothers cricket fans in India is the fact that Rohit's catches got dropped on a number of occasions especially during the initial overs of the innings. Rohit's early wicket would put Virat Kohli's team under tremendous strain. How will team India sail through? Well, it is yet to be been seen in full perspective.

Such a situation did arise when Rohit scored only one run against Afghanistan which meant India could score only 224. At one stage Afghanistan actually looked really close to the target

Warm up match lost, rain claimed real clash

India got defeated in the warm-up match against New Zealand. The scheduled World Cup clash got washed out due to rain.

So, both the teams haven't got a real chance to assess each other on the field. There is a tremendous surprise element for both the teams.

Withering bowling attack

Mohammed Shami and Bhuvneshwar Kumar have impressed all with their bowling in the World Cup. But the last two matches—against Bangladesh, Sri Lanka—saw them not being able to contain the batsman. Even spinner Yuzvendra Chahal is proving to be a costly bowler and this is a concern for Virat Kohli.

So, even after more than five weeks of intense cricket, these two teams will be clashing for the first time. Both have the ability to surprise the best teams in the world. Well, this is cricket—you can't really plan it on paper, the real test is always on the field. And the surprise element is something that makes cricket so special.

Also read:
Virat Kohli says this one word to Ravi Shastri as India defeat Bangladesh by 28 runs

First published: 8 July 2019, 12:21 IST