Rohit Sharma-led side had a dream start in the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 as they outclassed Australia by six wickets in Chennai on Sunday. Indian team started their quest for the third title on a high despite reeling at 2/3 chasing 200.
India suffered early hiccups as Ishan Kishan, Rohit and Shreyas Iyer departed on ducks against Mitchell Star and Josh Hazlewood in the opening overs of the innings. However, Indian cricket stalwart Virat Kohli along with KL Rahul stitched the marathon partnership of 165 runs for the fourth wicket to the side over the line. Kohli smashed 85 while Rahul played an unbeaten knock of 97 as India chased the target in 41.2 overs.
Reacting to the match, Rohit admitted it was 'tough' conditions for batting and Australian bowlers bowled well with the new ball to put India under pressure.
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"Pretty exciting. Good feeling to come out on top. It was a good game to start the tournament for us. I thought it was magnificent, especially the fielding and we saw the effort from everyone today, conditions like this it would be tough," Rohit said in the post-match presentation.
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The opening batter lauded Indian bowlers for using the conditions 'perfectly'. For India, Ravindra Jadeja picked three wickets while Jasprit Bumrah and Kuldeep Yadav grabbed two dismissals each.
"Our bowlers used the conditions perfectly and we knew there would be assistance for everyone, even the seamers got some reverse, the spinners bowled in the nice areas and all in all it was a great effort," Rohit said.
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On losing his wicket on duck, Rohit said he was nervous and credited Australian pacers for adjusting their lengths well.
"I was (nervous), you don't want to start your innings like that, credit to the Aussies bowlers as they bowled in good areas but some loose shots as well, when you have that kind of target you want to score as much as possible in the powerplay, but credit to Virat and KL on how they went about the chase," he said.
Rohit further said the team will continue to face challenges adapting to different conditions in the flagship tournament.
"That is going to be the challenge for us as a team, moving to different conditions and adapting, whoever suits the conditions will have to come and do the job. Chennai never disappoints, they love their cricket and for them to sit in that heat and come out and cheer for the team says a lot," he said.
India will next take on Afghanistan at Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Wednesday, October 11.