ICC World Cup 2019: Virat Kohli speaks about form of Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan

The skipper also said that once the main tournament starts, teams would prefer to chase which could make life easier for the openers

The strip at Cardiff had a fair covering of grass and the conditions were overcast. Openers do not like walking out to bat in such conditions, but Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan had to stride out, face two balls and then go back in as rain intervened.

File image of Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma(AP)

After a brief delay, the openers came back out, but this time Dhawan was trapped in front of his stumps as he attempted to flick a ball from Mustafizur Rahman. Rohit Sharma was far more cautious at the other end, he was willing to leave balls outside the off stump, willing to bide his time expecting the pitch to flatten out.

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However, he never really looked settled and after grinding it through the tough phase, he threw his wicket away as he attempted to pull Rubel Hossain, but ended up chopping the ball onto his stumps. The openers failed for the second match in a row, and this could potentially be quite worrying for the Indian management.

For Virat Kohli, though, it is nothing to be worried about as he believes his experienced duo will stand up and be counted.

“We have had two good challenges in the two games while batting first. Shikhar and Rohit are quality players, they become stars in ICC events. Ideally, we would have liked to chase today. I understand if guys don’t get going right away in this format. In warm-up games, at times, you don’t get the motivation especially because of the amount of cricket that we play. But I am glad with what we got out of these two games,” Kohli said after the match.

The skipper also said that once the main tournament starts, teams would prefer to chase which could make life easier for the openers. India start their campaign against South Africa on June 5 at Southampton.