India’s ODI skipper Shubman Gill admitted his team was unable to play the bowling line-up that they would have liked to against West Indies. In the first game, India backed Prasidh Krishna and Gurnoor Brar as the two fast bowlers.
Auqib Nabi Dar made his ODI debut in the second game but conceded 85 runs in 8.5 overs. After Krishna was ruled out with a hamstring injury, Anshul Kamboj made his ODI debut in the third game but he also returned with expensive figures of 0-82 in nine overs he bowled. Mohammed Siraj also played a solitary game.
Meanwhile, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh and Axar Patel were picked in India’s Asian Games squad whereas Hardik Pandya and Harshit Rana were unable for selection due to injury woes.
Shubman Gill said in the post-match press conference, “It’s been unfortunate with the injuries and the scheduling. We were unable to play the bowling line-up that we would like to, but at the same time, it’s something that is not in our hands. It’s a good chance for other players who might not have been in the team if the full-strength bowling line-up had been there. It’s a great chance for them to showcase their skills.
“I honestly think there is not that much time to experiment. The combination that we want to play, hopefully we get all the players that are available from the next series. The combination that we would like to play in the World Cup, we want to start playing with that combination,” Gill was quick to add.
Gill hailed the trio of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul for consistently delivering the goods for the team.
He concluded, “They’ve been batting really well, Rohit bhai, in the last four innings, he made a few hundreds, so he has been batting really well. So has Virat bhai. Whenever KL has got the chance, he has done the work for the team, put in the effort and batted brilliantly.”
India will next take on the West Indies in a five-match T20I series, starting Tuesday.
