India vs England, T20 World Cup: Chance for big guns Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli to step up on big stage

Virat Kohli loves the Adelaide Oval. He has also been one of the prolific run-getters for India in the big matches in International Cricket Council tournaments in the past.

Rohit Sharma is not far behind Kohli when it comes to impactful knocks in the knockout stages of ICC events.

Indian cricket fans and the team management will be hoping that their batting superstars come to the party against England in the big-ticket semi-final at Adelaide Oval on Thursday, November 10.

Legendary Sachin Tendulkar, as expected, is on top of India’s scoring charts when it comes to contributions in knockout matches in ICC events with 657 runs in 15 matches at an average of over 50. (quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals in World Cups, Champions Trophy, and World Test Championship taken into consideration).

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are not far behind with 570 and 535 runs in 15 and 13 matches, respectively. In fact, Rohit is the only Indian batter in the current squad with a hundred (2 of them) in World Cup knockout matches.

MOST RUNS IN ICC KNOCKOUTS (INDIA)
PLAYER                             MATCHES            RUNS
Sachin Tendulkar               15                       657
Virat Kohli                           14                       570
Rohit Sharma                     13                       535
Sourav Ganguly                 10                       514
Yuvraj Singh                       17                       458

All signs are pointing to a big show from the big boys of the team, but their recent record in the high-pressure matches of iCC events is a cause for concern. India’s top order has failed to live up to its reputation in the knockout matches, leading to the team’s heartbreaking losses at these final hurdles in the recent past.

RECENT BIG-STAGE WOES

Take the 2019 ODI World Cup for instance. India were chasing 240 on a cloudy day in Manchester against New Zealand. It was a fine opportunity for India to gun down a par target and book a place in the final but India’s top-order let the team down.

Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul were dismissed for 1 each. Even a lion-hearted effort from Ravindra Jadeja and MS Dhoni towards the end was not enough as India were pegged back so much by the top-order failure.

In the World Test Championship final in 2021 against New Zealand, Rohit managed 34 and 30 while Kohli got out for 44 and 13 as India lost the big finale 8 wickets in Southampton.

In the 2017 Champions Trophy final, India’s top order was blown away by Pakistan once again. Rohit Sharma got out for a 0 while Virat Kohli managed just 5 as India fell 151 runs short of a 339-run target at the Oval in London.

‘KNOCKOUT GAMES DON’T DEFINE PLAYERS’

Captain Rohit Sharma played down the lack of success of India’s top-order batters in ICC Knockout matches when he was asked about the same on the eve of the semi-final against England.

“I think knockout games are important. We do understand that. It’s a simple logic to it, knockout games, because you get to play only once and there’s only one opportunity to do well in that knockout game,” he said.

“But for us, I think, not just for me but for the players, what they’ve done in their entire career doesn’t define them by just one knockout game. The entire year you work so hard to get where you want to and to do well in whichever format you play. So that one particular game is not going to decide that,” he added.

It’s an opportunity for India’s top 3 to make up for the recent failures in the big stages when India face England in the T20 World Cup 2022 semi-final. Rohit is yet to go big in Australia and quite a few, including legendary Sunil Gavaskar, are hoping that the skipper has been saving his best for the big stage. On the other hand, Kohli would be hoping to make the most of his imperious form and Rahul will look to carry on after having hit two successive fifties.