CWC: We have played brilliantly, says Rohit Sharma after 8-wicket win against Afghanistan

NEW DELHI: India clinched an eight-wicket win against Afghanistan in the ninth match of the ODI World Cup at Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Wednesday. After the thrilling victory, skipper Rohit Sharma praised the squad and said they played brilliantly against Afghanistan.

While speaking on BCCI's "On the Mic" podcast, the 36-year-old was asked about the sixes he smashed against the Afghan side. To which, Rohit Sharma replied that he never thought that he would be able to hit sixes let alone that many.

"When I started this game, I never thought that I would be able to hit sixes let alone that many sixes but I never thought I would be able to hit like that. I am quite happy with the amount of work that I have done. I am never satisfied, I want to continue what I am doing, so my focus would be to continue doing that. It is a small happy moment for me," Rohit Sharma said.

When asked about the record that he has broken, Rohit Sharma said that Chris Gayle is a good friend and both wear the number 45 jersey. "My good old friend, Chris Gayle's record of sixes. The Universe Boss is the Universe Boss. He's such a six-hitting machine, we both wear No.45 jersey, so he must be happy too," he added.

Meanwhile, former West Indies player Chris Gayle took to his official X (formerly known as Twitter) account to congratulate Rohit Sharma. '"Congrats, @ImRo45 - Most Sixes in International cricket. #45 Special," Chris Gayle wrote on X.

While talking about the match, the skipper said that the team squad's main focus was to look at every game and not look very far ahead since it is a long tournament. He also praised the Indian bowling attack for doing an exceptional job of restricting Afghanistan to 272 runs.

He also added that the pitch at Arun Jaitley Stadium was good to bat on. "For us what was important was to look at every game and not look very far ahead because it is a very format that we play now. Our main focus is on the small things that we do against our opposition. We wanted to do well against Afghanistan, understand the conditions and play accordingly. I think we have played brilliantly, the bowlers have done an exceptional job of restricting Afghanistan to 272 runs.The wicket was also really good to bat on," Rohit concluded.

Rohit Sharma played a 131-run knock against Afghanistan on Wednesday to seal a comfortable eight-wicket victory. The stellar knock consisted of five sixes which took his tally of international sixes to 556 which is the most by any player.

Earlier, Chris Gayle held the record with 553 sixes. Rohit also the fastest century in the World Cup scored by an Indian surpassing former Indian captain Kapil Dev's 72-ball ton against Zimbabwe in 1983.

Rohit Sharma-led India will lock horns with Pakistan in the most anticipated match of the ODI World Cup at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Saturday.