Since Virat Kohli ane Rohit Sharma are the most coveted players of Team India, the oppositions plan heavily on the duo opines Afghanistan’s former skipper Asghar Afghan.
In the last decade, both Kohli and Rohit have shown remarkable consistency and have bailed India out of troubles on innumerable occasions (especially in LOIs).
In T20Is, the duo are the 1st and 2nd highest run-getters of all time and share 7000+ runs, 60 fifties & 5 hundreds between them.
Moreover, they are also the highest active run-scorers in ODIs.
Our plan was always to attack them in the beginning: Asghar Afghan
Talking to HT, Asghar Afghan was quoted as saying, “Whenever we played against Team India, our plan used to be around Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. We used to say ‘get them out, half of Indian team is finished’. The whole world plans against these two big players like this only. They can win matches single-handedly.”
It is extremely challenging to dismantle Kohli or Rohit once the batters get past the powerplay overs in LOIs unscathed. The hunger for big runs in India’s former and current skipper leaves the opposition reeling.
“Our plan was always to attack them in the beginning. Because if we can’t get them out in the beginning, then it is very difficult to trouble them”.
One of the batting greats and former leader of Afghanistan cricket, 35-year-old Asghar Afghan opined that by getting Cheeku and Hitman out for cheap scores, teams effectively swipe off 60-70 runs off India’s final score in T20 internationals and 100+ runs in ODIs.
Nonetheless, it has to be noted that the dependency on Kohli & Rohit has decreased in the last 2-3 years. The emergence of KL Rahul, Suryakumar, Bumrah and Hardik Pandya has strengthened the Men in Blue.
Thus, India is no longer a team that can be bested just by keeping Kohli-Rohit hush.