World Cup 2023: Rohit Sharma reveals why he chose Kohli, Gill, Suryakumar and himself to bowl against Netherlands

Digital Desk: India defeated the Netherlands by 160 runs to secure their ninth straight victory in the World Cup 2023 tournament. India finished their group stage matches with this victory, continuing their unbeaten streak in the major tournament.

Indian captain Rohit Sharma also gave Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, Virat Kohli, and himself an opportunity to bowl against the Netherlands in their last group-stage encounter.

Therefore, Rohit and Kohli took one wicket each, while Gill and Suryakumar went without wickets. Kohli dismissed Scott Edwards, the captain of the Netherlands while Rohit took Teja Nidamanuru's final wicket to close the match.

When questioned about the rationale behind this tactic, Rohit responds, "We want every player to be prepared to bowl if the need arises throughout the game. We need more people to help spread the workload because we only have five skilled bowlers. We were able to attempt something new with the game, and it was satisfying to see that it worked.

India dominated the match right away in the opening innings. Today in Bengaluru, Indian hitters put up excellent displays. Rohit and Gill, the opening hitters, scored 51 and 61 runs, respectively, to start the scoring. Following their dismissals, Virat Kohli (51 runs) and Shreyas Iyer continued the momentum, both scoring fifty-plus runs. Shreyas did, however, go on to smash his first century (128* runs) in the ODI World Cup. 

KL Rahul (102 runs), who set a record for the fastest century for India in the history of the ODI World Cup, came on board later. KL surpassed Rohit, who earlier in this World Cup hammered 100 runs on 63 balls against Afghanistan, by reaching the milestone in just 62 deliveries.

India's focus is currently on the semi-final matchup with New Zealand, which is scheduled for November 15 at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium.