World Cup 2019: We march on, says Virat Kohli after India seal semis berth

Virat Kohli could not have asked for a better performance from his men after the defeat at the hands of England on Sunday. Bouncing back from that one-off defeat in the competition, India beat Bangladesh by 28 runs to storm into the semifinal of the World Cup 2019. The Men in Blue put up a clinical performance with both bat and ball to get the job done with one league game remaining.

In-form Rohit Sharma continued to make merry with the bat in the tournament. He scored his fourth century of the competition to lay the foundation for the big total of 314 for 9. Rohit and his fellow opener KL Rahul added 180 runs for the opening stand to give India a solid start. Bangladesh did manage to pull things back towards the end but the solid start helped India post over 300 runs.

In reply, Bangladesh were all out for 286 in the 48th over. In-form Shakib Al Hasan and Mohammad Saifuddin hit fighting fifties but India’s bowlers were just too good for the Tigers. For India, Jasprit Bumrah was the top performer with the ball, picking up four wickets.

And as soon as the game ended, Virat Kohli took to Twitter to lavish praise on his team. The India star posted a picture of the team posing in the dressing room while writing:

“What a unit. We march on. Jai hind.”

Happy to qualify

Speaking at the post-match presentation ceremony, Virat Kohli expressed his happiness over the team making it to the semifinal. India joined Australia in the last four of the competition.

“I mean Bangladesh has played some really good cricket in the tournament. They deserve a lot of credit for the fight they put up, even till the last wicket I think they were in the game. We had to work hard for the win but very happy that we saw ‘Q’ (Qualified) in front of the team in the table now.

Another game as an opportunity for us to do the same things we have done so far in the tournament, and I think that will keep us in the frame of mind heading towards the semi-final,” said Kohli who is leading India in the World Cup for the first time.