London: Indian star batter Virat Kohli has lauded Rohit Sharma ahead of World Test Championship final saying the Indian team skipper has "got more time than anyone else" to strike a ball and the way he has performed in Tests over the last three-four years is a testimony to his temperament.
Virat said in the video posted by ICC that Rohit Sharma is a special player.
"I have always said that Rohit has got more time than anyone else and that is the special ability that he had from day one. When I saw him play the first time, I understood what the hype was all about and why he was rated so highly. What he has done for India in white ball cricket over a long period of time we all knew...the way he has performed in test cricket over the last three-four years is a testimony to his temperament of playing test cricket," Virat added.
Virat hoped that Rohit Sharma will continue his form and noted that opening innings is not an easy job.
"Opening is not an easy job and he has done a wonderful job, opening the innings for us. He has performed well in all formats, enjoy watching him, especially from the other end, and hopefully, he can repeat his performance of what he did in Oval last time," Virat said.
Rohit played four Tests this year and scored 242 runs with an average of 40.33. He hit one century this year. Overall, Rohit has featured in 49 matches in which he has smashed 3379 runs at an average of 45.66. He has scored nine centuries and 14 fifties.
India's squad for WTC final: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, KS Bharat (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Ishan Kishan (wk).
Suryakumar Yadav, Mukesh Kumar and Yashasvi Jaiswal have been named as stand-by players for the high-stakes match. Australia squad for WTC final: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Todd Murphy, Michael Neser, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, David Warner. (ANI)
