Ahead of India’s ODI World Cup 2023 semi-final against New Zealand, former Australia captain Aaron Finch has lauded Rohit Sharma’s batting mindset, saying that his aggressive approach makes opposition panic and they go into a defensive mode early on in the game.

Hosts India continued their sensational run at the ongoing World Cup and finished the league stage with a terrific 9-0 record after they smashed Netherlands by 160 runs in Bangalore on Sunday.

The Rohit Sharma led side will now face New Zealand in the first semi-final on Wednesday, November 15 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

Before the semi-final, Aaron Finch spoke on Rohit Sharma’s aggressive approach in the powerplay.

“The thought process behind Rohit is he’s trying to get the team off to a quick start. You see, the wicket tends to get slower as the tournament has gone on. So, that initial powerplay to put pressure on the opposition is really crucial. I think what that’s done is it’s changed the bowler’s mindset before the game has even started, knowing that Rohit’s going to come really hard at them,” Finch told Star Sports.

“They start panicking a bit and maybe go into a defensive mode early on, and that plays into his hands as India has gotten off to some brilliant starts,” he added.

Meanwhile, another former Australia cricketer Matthew Hayden also provided insights into Rohit’s strategy. He commended the opener’s aggression for creating a platform that allows the middle order, especially Virat Kohli, to flourish.

“Rohit Sharma has been really aggressive in this World Cup tournament. When you think about the mindset of what that means for his side, one is he has made the batting look easy, and two is he has a strike rate of 130 inside the powerplay. That has allowed the middle order, especially Virat Kohli, to just set out and put on that computer brain of his and work out exactly what needs to happen,” said Hayden.

“He’s been a marquee player for India for some time, missed out in 2011, mind you, come 2023 he is not missing out,” he added.

Notably, India will meet New Zealand in the ODI World Cup semi-finals for the second-successive time. During the last ODI World Cup in 2019, New Zealand beat India by 21 runs in a rain-hit semi final in Manchester.

However, hosts India had defeated New Zealand by four wickets in the group stage last month in Dharamshala in the ongoing ODI World Cup 2023 and it will give them a lot of confidence.