India vs England: Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli formed a massive early partnership and Twitter was left as the captain and vice-captain of India.
India gave KL Rahul a T. Dropped in the fifth T20 International (T20I) against England at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad to accommodate an extra bowler in the form of Natarajan. Captain Virat Kohli got up to start the innings with Rohit Sharma and the pair gave India a great start. Their 94-run partnership in nine overs stood India out with a mammoth score of 224/2, with Rohit Sharma scoring an aggressive 64 off 34 balls. It was his 22nd T20I half-century and he took India to a strong position in the decider in the series.
The captain and vice-captain’s initial partnership – India’s highest in this series – was influenced by experts and fans alike on social media.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan wrote, “There can’t be a better opening combo on the eye than @imVkohli & @ ImRo45. They can easily match @virendersehwag & @sachin_rt.”
Former Team India batsmen Wasim Jaffer and Virender Sehwag were both in tune with their nature and were fully prepared for the occasion.
“Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Two World’s Best White-Ball Player Openings” wrote one user.
Another user described him as a “Brothers of Destruction” in reference to WWE icons Undertaker and Kane.
It was Rohit Sharma who dominated the partnership after Kohli left the anchor. He hit five sixes and four fours in his innings of 34 balls as he attacked England.
He hit Adil Rashid for a mid-over to start his attack, before playing two superb straight drives from Mark Wood.
The highlight of his knock was a pickup shot, presumably from Wood, when he carelessly pulled him behind the four for a six.
Once Rohit was dismissed, Kohli started to accelerate and reached his 28th T20 half-century off 36 balls. This was the third part of his series as he strengthened his position as the highest run-scorer in the five-match competition.
He scored unbeaten innings of 80 off 52 balls, which included seven fours and two sixes.
