Indian skipper Rohit Sharma was glad with the performance of his bowlers after their six-wicket victory against Afghanistan in the first T20I at the IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali on Thursday. Sharma said they also want to challenge themselves in the areas they are slightly uncomfortable with.
India will play only two more T20Is against Afghanistan before they play their opening T20 World Cup match against Ireland. Ergo, there aren’t many matches for them to try a few things they want before the T20I showpiece.
Meanwhile, India was able to restrict Afghanistan to an under-par score of 158 runs after Rohit won the toss and decided to bowl first. Mukesh Kumar continued to impress as he bagged two wickets after being expensive in his first three overs. Furthermore, Axar Patel bowled an economical spell and returned with impressive figures of 2-23 in his four-overs quota.
Rohit Sharma said in the post-match presentation, “It was extremely cold. Now I am okay. When the ball hits the tip of the finger, it was sore. In the end, it was good. A lot of positives, we got a lot from this game, especially with the ball. Wasn’t the easiest of conditions. Our spinners bowled really well and the seamers also did the job as well.”
Rohit admitted there were plenty of positives as Shivam Dube scored an unbeaten knock of 60 runs off just 40 balls. Moreover, Dube took a wicket and conceded only nine runs in the two overs he bowled. Furthermore, Tilak Varma, Jitesh Sharma, and Rinku Singh played handy knocks.
Rohit added, “Lot of positives. Shivam Dube, the way Jitesh batted, Tilak as well and then Rinku is in good form as well.”
Meanwhile, Rohit gave the 19th over to Washington Sundar, who registered figures of 0-27 in the three overs he bowled.
Speaking on the same, Rohit said, “We want to keep trying different things – try and bowl our bowlers in different situations of the game, like you saw today, Washi bowled the 19th over. We want to challenge ourselves in the areas we are slightly uncomfortable with and the bowlers are not used to that. We want to try and do that. Keeping all of those things in mind, we’ll try and do whatever is possible but not at the cost of the game. We want to make sure that we come out on top and play the game well. All in all, today was a good day for us.”
The second T20I between India and Afghanistan will be played at Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore on Sunday.
