World Cup 2023: Rohit Sharma says hats off to Virat Kohli and KL Rahul

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Indian captain Rohit Sharm was all praises of Virat Kohli and KL Rahul for saving India's blushes as he admitted to feeling nervous at 2/3 while chasing 200 against Australia during their opening match against Australia at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Chennai on Sunday.

KL Rahul scored a 97* while Virat Kohli got out after scoring 85 as the duo added 165 runs for the fourth wicket, urging skipper Rohit Sharma to doff his hat to the two senior players as India won the game by six wickets.

"Yes I was (nervous) to be honest. You don't want to start like that when chasing a target. Credit to Australia, but some loose shots there as well. But that happens, you want to get off the mark and score quickly in the powerplay. But hats off to Virat and KL - the way they stuck out there to create a match-winning partnership," the 35-year-old captain said at the post-match presentation ceremony.

Rohit Sharma, who scored a duck, was particularly pleased with the team's fielding. "Good feeling to come out on top. Magnificent, especially the fielding. The fielding was something we really put our effort on. It was a great effort.

"In conditions like this it can be tough sometimes. We knew there would be assistance for everyone. Seamers got reverse, spinners bowled in nice areas. All in all a great effort," he said.

Australian captain Pat Cummins felt his team was 50 runs short of what could have been a challenging total.

"At least 50-odd. It was tough, trying to defend anything under 200. It was a really good bowling attack and their spinners made it tough work out there. I wasn't too upset (with just two spinners), we had 20 overs of spin but some more runs on the board would have made the difference," Cummins said after the loss.

Australia also tasted defeat in their opening match for the first time since the 1996 World Cup.