T20 World Cup 2024: Taming the wind was the key to victory against Australia, says Rohit Sharma

India's Rohit Sharma leads team to T20 World Cup semifinals with masterful batting against Australia.

Winning was not a 'breeze' for India in their last T20 World Cup Super Eight match against Australia as skipper Rohit Sharma said he had to tweak his batting to take the wind out of the 2021 champions' sails.

Rohit played some delectable strokes on the off side as the 'Player of the Match' made a match-winning 92 off just 41 deliveries just when his opening partner Virat Kohli departed for a duck.

Courtesy Rohit's seven boundaries and eight sixes, India scored 205/5 and then restricted Mitchell Marsh's side to 181/7 for a 24-run victory and moved into the semifinal of the showpiece event.

With wind a perpetual hindrance, Rohit said he had to play more strokes on the off side to negate the impact.

"I thought right from over number one, there was a strong breeze blowing across. They (Australia) changed their plan, bowling against the breeze, so I realised I had to open up the off side as well.

"You've got to factor in the breeze and understand that the bowlers are smart as well and open up all sides of the field. When you keep an open mind and not just think of one shot, you can access all areas of the field," said the India skipper after the match.

"200 is obviously a good score, but when you're playing on grounds like this where wind is a factor, anything is possible, but I thought we used the conditions very well. It was very pleasing to see how we were getting through those overs and getting the wickets at the same time." Rohit also said he knew wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav would be at his potent best in the West Indies after encountering seamer-friendly conditions in the US.