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India's white-ball captain Rohit Sharma has explained the rationale behind promoting Rishabh Pant to the top of the order in the second ODI against West Indies. Sharma stated that the Men in Blue wanted to experiment with the options they have at hand.
India surprised plenty of cricket fans by sending Pant to open the innings alongside Sharma. The move didn't reap dividends though, with the young wicket-keeper batsman scoring only 18 runs off 34 balls.
When asked about the 'shocking' move, Rohit Sharma stressed that it was not permanent. Speaking at the post-match presentation ceremony, the Indian captain stated:
"I've been asked to do different things, trying out Pant to open was something that we tried today, not a permanent solution but we wanted to try out something unique today. We're going to get Shikhar back in the next game, he's going to get his game time but ultimately, we have to keep trying out different things. We don't mind losing games here and there but we want to keep experimenting."
For those who aren't aware, Shikhar Dhawan tested positive for COVID-19 a couple of days ahead of the start of the ODI series against the West Indies. The southpaw missed the opening encounter due to existing protocols. Although he was available for selection in the second ODI, the management decided to give the veteran opener more rest.
Rohit Sharma further stressed the need to give existing players a long rope in the coming matches.
"Still a day in between, we're going to go back and see who we can give that game time but again there are guys who's been playing consistently, it's important we need to continue to give them the game time," he added.
"It shows their character when they perform" - Rohit Sharma on India's middle-order conundrum
With KL Rahul back in the middle-order, India showed spine after being reduced to 43/3 within 12 overs. Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav paired up for a 91-run stand for the fourth wicket to resurrect India's innings.
Rohit Sharma hailed India's middle-order for standing tall up to the task when needed and taking the side to a decent total. The 34-year-old said:
"Obviously winning the series is a good feeling, there were challenges of course when we came into bat. I thought the partnership between KL and Surya, they showed a lot of maturity there, that is what we want, when you lose wickets up front, you need guys to step up and we got to a fighting total in the end."
Sharma added:
"It was important to get to the good score and the bowling had to turn up which it did, I'm quite pleased with that. It's important for the middle order to do well in such situation, it shows their character when they perform."
The new Indian skipper individually lauded both Yadav and Rahul as well, stating:
"The kind of knock of Surya played today, will give him a lot of confidence, he couldn't just go through with his shots, he had to bide his time and then played a very matured innings today. Also, the way KL batted, really impressed as well, it wasn't easy for him, he's been moved around the batting order a lot but he showed a lot of composure today."
However, once the partnership between Rahul and Yadav was broken, West Indies continued to pick up wickets at regular intervals. Deepak Hooda's late cameo helped the home side post 237 runs on the board which ultimately proved to be too much for West Indies.
Prasidh Krishna was the pick of the bowlers for India, picking up four wickets for just 12 runs from his nine overs. Shardul Thakur also managed two scalps as the visitors fell 44 runs short.
Rohit Sharma showered praise on Krishna, stating that he had not seen anyone hurry up batters with bouncers on Indian wickets in a long time the way he did. The cricketer from Mumbai continued:
"I was a little surprised with no dew today but not taking anything away from the bowlers, especially Prasidh, it's been sometime I've seen someone bounce out batters like that on India pitches. Prasidh kept relentless pressure on the batters and he did splendidly well today, we wanted to get wickets and he did with ease with tonight."
Sharma concluded:
"I wanted to keep Prasidh for backend as well, because they had power hitters down the order for some late hitting. So [I] shuffled the bowling around nicely. When you have five bowlers and Hooda being the sixth, it's always nice to have a extra cushion to have."
With the series done and dusted, the final game of the ODI leg is scheduled to take place on February 11 in Ahmedabad. Rohit Sharma will look to make it a 3-0 whitewash in his first series as India's permanent white-ball skipper.
