Indian skipper Rohit Sharma shed light on the pitch conditions after the team’s comprehensive eight-wicket win against Ireland at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York on Wednesday. Rohit won the toss and decided to bowl first as the pitch had all the assistance for the bowlers.
Arshdeep Singh gave a perfect start to the team, removing Ireland openers – Andrew Balbirnie and captain Paul Stirling. Hardik Pandya returned with impressive figures of 3-27 in his quota of four overs as he accounted for Lorcan Tucker, Curtis Campher and Mark Adair.
Furthermore, Jasprit Bumrah was right on the money, as always, picking 2-6 in the three overs he bowled. Thus, India was able to skittle out Ireland out for only 96 runs. The pitch had variable bounce, was two paced and offered a lot of swing in the Powerplay overs.
On the other hand, India was able to chase down the target in only 12.2 overs with Rohit Sharma scoring 52 runs before retiring hurt (he was hit on the arm) whereas Rishabh Pant, batting at number three, scored an unbeaten 36 off 26 balls.
Rohit Sharma said in the post-match presentation, “Yeah, just a little sore (the arm). I said it at the toss as well. Quite unsure of what to expect from the pitch. Not aware on what it is to play like on a pitch that’s five months old. I don’t think the wicket settled down even when we batted second. There was enough for the bowlers. That’s pretty much what you gotta do. Try to hit those lengths consistently. All these guys have played a lot of Test cricket. Arshdeep is the only guy who hasn’t. His two wickets upfront set the tone for us. Don’t think we can play four spinners here (laughs). When we picked the team, we wanted to have the balance. If conditions are there for seamers, we wanted to have that. Spin will play a part later on.”
Rohit added it was a four-seamer pitch and that’s why they played with three frontline pacers with Hardik Pandya being the fourth. The Indian captain feels it was important to spend time in the middle to accilmatise to the pitch conditions before the high-octane clash against Pakistan.
He added, “Today was a four-seamer pitch and we still managed to get two spinners who are allrounders. I don’t know what to expect from the pitch to be honest. We will prepare as if the conditions are going to be like this (for Pakistan game). This is going to be a kind of game where all XI of us will need to contribute. It was scratchy, but good to spend some time in the middle and understand what kind of shots to play there.”
India will next take on arch-rivals Pakistan at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York on Sunday.
