India’s ‘Chase Master’ Virat Kohli revealed “reverse slap” as the shot that he would like to borrow from England’s consistent batter Joe Root. England have, so far, failed to live up to their pre-tournament billing in the ongoing World Cup, as they sit at the bottom of the table with just two points. However, they will back themselves to pull off a victory against the hosts as the defending champions hold a 4-3 lead over the Men in Blue in head-to-head encounters in ODI World Cups.
However, if current form is anything to go by, India does appear to be the favourites in Sunday’s clash.
Lavishing praise on Root, Kohli told Star Sports, “Joe, he is great all-round the way he plays reverse slap I would like to take that shot.”
Root has played this shot numerous times against spinners as well as pacers to find boundaries and put pressure on the bowlers. There aren’t many batters who can execute this specific shot the way Root does especially in the red-ball format.
Ahead of the clash, Virat was also seen bowling in the nets with the bowlers. Along with the players who form India’s usual bowling set-up which includes Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav, the likes of Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav and Virat also bowled a few deliveries as well.
India currently sits in second place in the tournament’s standings with 10 points and has a net run rate of 1.353. South Africa leapfrogged after they defeated Pakistan in a nail-biting one-wicket victory.
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya (vc), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav.
England: Jos Buttler (c), Moeen Ali, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes, Brydon Carse, David Willey, Mark Wood, Chris Woakes.
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