Indian skipper Rohit Sharma plays a shot during the 2nd ODI match in the New Zealand tour of India, at Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium, in Raipur on Saturday.
| Photo Credit: ANI
India captain Rohit Sharma shared that he is adapting to a new batting approach, which was to take the attack to bowlers. Speaking to reporters after the hosts coasted to a eight-wicket win on Saturday, the right-hander underlined the importance of attacking the bowlers early in the innings, stating that he is not worried about not having converted the starts he got in the past few innings.
“I’m trying to change my game a bit now, have been trying to take the bowlers on. I think that’s important. I know the big scores haven’t come, but I’m not too worried about it,” said Rohit. He heaped praise on the bowling attack saying the bowlers have risen to the occasion whenever required.
The skipper added that he was elated to see the bowlers reaping rewards for their dedication and hard work. “The last five games, bowlers have really stepped up. Whatever we have asked of them, they have stepped up and delivered. You don’t usually see this type of seam movement in India, you generally see it outside India. These guys have some serious skills, they work really hard and it’s great to see them being rewarded. They [Shami and Siraj] were raring to keep bowling long spells but I reminded them that there is a Test series coming up as well [Australia at home], so we need to take care of ourselves as well,” the captain said.
Talking about the win and the game plan for the second ODI, he said, “We trained yesterday and the ball was nipping around under lights. We knew that if they had 250 or so, it might have been challenging for us but that was the point of opting to chase. We batted first last game, so the idea was to challenge ourselves. Not sure what I’ll do at Indore. The confidence is high within the group and that’s great to see.”
India secured a comprehensive eight-wicket win against New Zealand in the second ODI to secure their seventh consecutive ODI series at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium, Raipur on Saturday.
Rohit Sharma’s fifty coupled with a fiery performance from the Indian bowlers made sure that the hosts cruised to victory, chasing 109. The Indian captain played a 51-run knock while Shuman Gill remained unbeaten on 40 runs to take India over the line. Henry Shipley and Mitchell Santner took a wicket each.
The Indian new ball bowlers ran riot on a pitch that had decent grass cover, making use of the favourable bowling conditions on offer. Mohammad Shami was the wreaker-in-chief, scalping three wickets. Hardik Pandya and Washington Sundar picked two wickets each. While Siraj, Kuldeep and Shardul took one wicket each.Mohammad Shami was declared the player of the match for his brilliant spell in the first inning.
Brief Score: India 111/2 (Rohit Sharma 51, Shubhman Gill 40*; Henry Shipley 1-29) vs New Zealand 108/10 (Glenn Phillips 36, Mitchell Santner 27; Mohammad Shami 3-18)
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