We wished to provide sport time to our ODI gamers: Rohit

India captain Rohit Sharma didn’t anticipate the Kensington Oval monitor to deteriorate a lot however defended his choice to advertise ODI specialists forward of him and Virat Kohli within the first match right here on Thursday.

India beat West Indies by 5 wickets in a sport the place spinners from both facet picked up 10 out of the 15 wickets that fell on a rank turner with lots of bounce and carry.

“I never thought the pitch would play like that, it was the team’s need to bowl first. The pitch had everything for seamers and spinners, our guys did well to restrict them to that score,” Rohit stated on the post-match presentation ceremony.

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The skipper himself got here into bat at No. 7 and stated that it made him make a journey down reminiscence lane when he used to come back in at that quantity as a rookie.

“I made my debut for India and was batting at number 7, reminded me of those days,” Rohit stated.

On a severe notice, it was a transfer to provide sport time to white ball specialists like Suryakumar Yadav.

“We wanted to give game time to the ODI guys who have come in, we will keep trying those things whenever possible. To restrict them to 115, we knew we could try these guys and give them a go,” Rohit stated, defending the transfer of sending Suryakumar at No. 3 and Hardik Pandya at No. 4.

“I don’t think they’ll get many chances like this.” He additionally praised debutant seamer Mukesh Kumar, who has impressed every person on his Test debut.

India’s captain Rohit Sharma, left, congratulates bowler Mukesh Kumar for dismissing West Indies’ Alick Athanaze throughout their first ODI cricket match at Kensington Oval. 
| Photo Credit:
AP

“Mukesh was brilliant, he can swing the ball at a good pace. Good to see what he can offer, haven’t seen him much in domestic cricket. No matter the conditions, we need to bowl in the right areas to restrict them, and I thought our bowlers did brilliantly. And then Ishan was good with the bat as well.”

West Indies skipper Shai Hope saved it quick however was very crucial of a monitor that resembled rank turner.

“Not too many words come to mind. We didn’t play the way we needed to, we need to find ways to score on difficult pitches like this. I’m not making excuses, but anyone watching cricket can see what is happening here,” Hope stated.