Leading from the front, Men in Blue skipper Rohit Sharma’s power hitting prowess helped team seal the match against Afghanistan comfortably. In process, he owned a flurry of records to his name. The effortless timer of the cricket ball, Hitman surpassed Universe Boss Chris Gayle’s tally of 551 sixes by taking his count to 556 sixes. Notably, he did it by playing 30 innings than the southpaw, thereby stamping his authority as the sixer king.

Furthermore, the lad from Mumbai showed some staggering numbers in the World Cup history, showing how good he unleashes in the grandest stage of the game. In just his 19th innings, he crossed the 1000 run mark in World cups, with a total of 1109 runs to his name. He hit a century in 63 deliveries, which became the fastest one by Indian batter in World cups. Furthermore, he surpassed the Sachin’s tally of 6 world cups, by scoring his 7th one, thereby becoming the only person on the planet to do so. It’s a staggering achievement to do it while just playing his 3rd world cup.

More than just his personal milestones, he provided the much needed assurance to the team and fans, who were hoping to see the top order fire. The team had previously won the match against Australia, however the top order has collapsed in front of the Aussie attack. The team survived the scare due to class of Rahul and flamboyance of Kohli. But the top order issues were worrisome, as both the openers were dismissed for a duck. Hence this swashbuckling knock from Rohit Sharma restored the faith in the top order, along with gifting the victory to the team.

While the faith in batting was restored, Indian bowlers continued to impress yet again. On a surface good to bat on, the bowlers did a splendid job of restricting the Afghan team to a mere total of 272 runs. Spearhead Jasprit Bumrah yet again showed why he is such a valuable asset to the team. Scalping a total of 4 wickets, he breathed fire which Afghans couldn’t withstand. Jadeja, Kuldeep bowled tight lines. Mohammad Siraj had a bad day in the office, and barring him everyone stepped up to perfection. Once the bowlers had done their job, Indian skipper took matter in his hands and handed the victory to the team.

With two wins, the team looks in a good shape. The bowlers are bowling with their hearts on the sleeve, and the middle order as well as top order have looked good. In addition to this, the team looks eclectic on the field, and barring a few easy chances, they have looked good. Having chased on both the occasions, India will possibly look to bat first and set a good total against the high voltage match with the arch-rivals. Meanwhile the Men in Green will expect their captain to fire in the crucial India Pakistan match. All in all, the stage looks perfectly set to witness a thriller on 14th October.