“Will you drop Rohit Sharma”: Virat Kohli slams journalist who suggests replacing Rohit Sharma with Ishan Kishan in T20 World Cup

Virat Kohli slams journalist: The Indian captain seemed to be irked and rightly so by a suggestion around dropping his deputy.

India captain Virat Kohli believes that his team can “overcome” the mistakes they made in their ICC T20 World Cup 2021 opener against Pakistan in Dubai tonight. Kohli, who didn’t hesitate from crediting Pakistan on multiple occasions, lauded them for having different answers at various stages of the match.

“Credit to the opposition [for the way they played]. No shame in accepting that a team played better than you. You also don’t go out there being casual. We tried creating pressure but they had answers for the same. We know where we went wrong. We have that clarity. We definitely feel like we can overcome these mistakes,” Kohli said during the post-match press conference.

Chasing a 152-run target, Pakistan sealed the chase without losing a wicket and with 13 balls to spare. The in-form and reliable opening pair of vice-captain Mohammad Rizwan (79 not out) and captain Babar Azam (68 not out) put together a match-winning 152-run partnership as Pakistan beat India for the first time in a World Cup.

Virat Kohli slams journalist who suggests replacing Rohit Sharma with Ishan Kishan

Having scored his 29th T20I half-century, Kohli scored a responsible 57 (49) after India lost three wickets in the powerplay. Apart from wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant (39), Kohli didn’t receive much support from the others especially the top-order.

Opening the bowling for Pakistan, speedster Shaheeh Shah Afridi was declared the ‘Man of the Match’ award for dismissing Rohit Sharma (0), Lokesh Rahul (3) and Kohli. India losing their opening batters against the new ball ended up being an irreparable loss for Kohli and his team.

Kohli, who otherwise accepted defeated quite graciously both during the post-match presentation ceremony and the press conference, seemed to be irked by a journalist suggesting him to drop Sharma for wicket-keeper batter Ishan Kishan.

“Brave question. What do you think, sir? Will you drop Rohit Sharma from the T20I team? Unbelievable [laughs]. If you want controversy, please tell me before, I will answer accordingly,” Kohli gave a befitting reply to the journalist.

Kishan, who was dropped for a couple of matches for below par returns by Mumbai Indians in Indian Premier League 2021, returned to form by scoring a combined total of 134 (57) against Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad. Despite the 23-year old player following it with a 70 (46) in the warm-up match against England, he was always going to be a reserve batter in this tournament.