Will batting first challenge India?

All of India's wins have come while chasing but how will they do when asked to set a total?

- VIVEK KRISHNAN

There are fine chasers in one-day cricket and then there’s Virat Kohli. Blessed with a razor-sharp brain that sizes up asking rates and wicket-taking threats like a supercomputer, Kohli’s playbook seldom fails in a chase. He seems to have the entire script beside him, knowing exactly when to absorb pressure, when to rotate strike and when to find that big hit.

There are attractive openers in one-day cricket and then there’s Rohit Sharma. Bowl full and he’ll slam you through the cover region for four. Bowl short – don't ever make that mistake – and he’ll pull with utter disdain. Bowl a good length and he’ll charge down the track to carve you down the ground. All of this without ever compromising on the aesthetic charm of his batting.

Put the two of them together in their current mood of belligerence, and you get the rewards India are reaping. Four games have produced four successful run chases, helping India maintain a perfect record at this World Cup.

In the two games that Sharma has crossed has half-century, Kohli has had a bit-part role. The India skipper has managed to blaze away right at the outset, either playing the ball all along the ground and piercing the gaps or simply dispatching it into the stands with remarkable poise. This is a World Cup, and Sharma seems to bask in the spotlight that this stage offers. He has scored more centuries than anybody else in this tournament. And on Thursday, he also became the top run-scorer in World Cup chases – 771 runs in 13 innings at an average of 70.09.