After winning the crucial T20I series decider against the visitors Bangladesh on Sunday (10th November) night at Nagpur, Indian stand-in captain Rohit Sharma credited the Indian bowlers. Rohit Sharma also revealed what he said the players during the struggling moment of that game.
It was the third and final T20I of this series which was the do or die game for both India and Bangladesh. Before this game, the series was level by 1-1.
After losing the toss, India had to face the bat first in this Nagpur T20I. India managed to score 174/5 (20 overs) in the first innings. In reply, Bangladesh were once batting on 110/2 while the opener Mohammad Naim was strongly guiding the team to the victory.
But once India broke the third wicket partnership of 98 runs between Mohammad Naim and Mohammad Mithun, Bangladesh batting faced the unhandleable collapse. Apart from Naim (81) and Mithun (27), other batsmen failed to reach the double-digit scores in that innings. Bangladesh were bundled out for just 144 runs (19.2 overs) as the hosts won by 30 runs. With this victory, India also won this series by 2-1.
Indian pacer Deepak Chahar dominated with the ball and took a hat-trick at the end of the match. Not only he became the first Indian bowler to claim a T20I hat-trick, but he also achieved the best T20I bowling figures which were 3.2-0-7-6.
Also, Shivam Dube (3/30) bagged three wickets at the very crucial moments. Though Dube was expensive at the beginning, his next two overs changed the entire game as he dismissed Mushfiqur Rahim and Naim. The leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal (1/43) was the other bowler who picked up a wicket in that innings. Chahal dismissed the visiting captain Mahmudullah (8).
It were the bowlers who won us the game – Rohit Sharma
After this victory, Rohit Sharma credited the Indian bowlers to snatch this amazing victory.
Rohit said in the post-match presentation ceremony, “It were the bowlers who won us the game. I know how tough it was in the middle considering the dew factor. At one stage it was looking easy for them when they needed 70-odd of 8 overs; things were looking tough for us. It was a great comeback from us. The boys took the responsibility and raised their hands up.”
Rohit Sharma also revealed what was his pep talk that motivated the Indian youngsters to return to that game strongly.
The Indian stand-in captain added, “I just reminded them this (pointing towards the badge on the jersey) is what we are playing for. I can understand when wickets are not falling, it’s hard to pick ourselves up. I just had to remind what team they’re playing for, credit to the bowlers.”
The stand-in Indian T20I captain also praised KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer
In the first innings of this match, the Indian openers failed to provide strong start. Both the openers, Rohit Sharma (2) and Shikhar Dhawan (19), fell very cheaply.
However, KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer handled that early pressure situation very well. While Rahul scored 52 runs (35 balls), Iyer smashed 62 off 33 balls (3 fours and 5 sixes). Their batting helped the hosts to post the challenging total on the board.
Rohit Sharma praised both Rahul and Iyer for their impressive batting performances.
He said, “The way Rahul and Iyer played, that was magnificent. That is what we want from the team – individuals taking the responsibility.”
Rohit Sharma’s thought about the Indian squad for the next T20 World Cup
While Rohit Sharma-led India brought the same playing XI in the first two matches of this series, they made only change for this series decider. Manish Pandey made a comeback in the squad while Krunal Pandya missed out the playing XI. Pandey scored an important 22 not out off 13 balls.
Talking about the Indian squad for the next ICC T20 World Cup, Rohit Sharma feels that it can be a big headache if the boys continue this performance.
Rohit added, “Until we get close to the World Cup, we got to find the right balance. There are a few guys missing, but they’ll come back. Keeping everything in mind, we have few games in mind before we get into that flight to Australia. If we keep performing like we did today, it’s going to be a big headache for Virat and the selectors.”
Australia will host the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2020 from 18th October to 15th November 2020.