What if both Rohit and Virat fail together?

Direct Hit

All set for the big semifinal on Wednesday between India and New Zealand at Wankhede and the fans are curious if Indian captain Rohit Sharma will play the same brand of cricket which has been bang bang and aggressive from ball one in this World Cup or will Rohit play with more calmness since it's a knockout and won't take so much risk as there is no second chance if it fails.

Barring two games which was the first match against Australia in Chennai and Sri Lanka in Mumbai, Rohit has given India good starts in the rest seven games scoring 503 runs at an astonishing strike rate of 121.49 which has made it easy for the rest of the batsman to follow. He has

hit 60 sixes already in this World Cup and has not been shy in going after the bowlers stepping out and charging the fast bowlers.

Similarly, Virat Kohli too has been in great form scoring 594 runs at an average of 99 and both these Indian stars have been the main scorers for Team India. In case Rohit has failed, Virat has scored and if Virat has not clicked then Rohit has taken care and made sure India has either chased down a target or put up a good score. There has not been a single game where both have failed, and Indian camp would be definitely wary of it. Yes, the likes of Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul all have contributed but if comes a scenario where both Rohit and Virat fail in the knockout, then will the others soak up the pressure?

Another statistics which must be worrying all Indian fans is the past record of Rohit in the knockout. In 2015, If Virat fell for just one, Rohit had scored 34. In the 2017 Champions Trophy final against Pakistan, Rohit went for a duck and Virat fell for just 5. In the last semifinal in 2019 both Indian biggies fell for just one. In the all the above three games India were chasing and lost the games.

When speaking to Zaheer Khan, I had brought this topic what if both stars fail which has been the case in all three knockouts, Zaheer had said India needs to be prepared for it and must have Plan B or Plan C in such a scenario and need to tackle it. Easier said than done, it needs to be seen how the semifinal pans out, but Indian fans will be hoping the juggernaut continues and India make it to the finals.