Skipper Rohit Sharma was highly impressed with his players after India’s sensational win over England in a low-scoring match in Lucknow. India extended their winning streak in this World Cup by 6 and reclaimed the top spot. Experienced pacers Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah laid the foundation of India’s 100-run win with their brilliant bowling figures of 4/22 and 3/32 respectively.
It was not an easy task to defend the 230-run target but the Indian bowlers hunted the English batters in a pack to bundle them out for just 129 which added more misery to their title defence.
Rohit hailed the experienced players for standing up on the big occasions and taking the team over the line.
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“This was the game, a lot of character in the squad. When the times were tough, all our experienced players stood up at the right time and got the game for us,” Rohit said in the post-match presentation.
India had a tough start to the game as they lost three early wickets to slip to 40-3 before Rohit (87) steadied the innings and built a 91-run stand with KL Rahul, who made 39.
Rohit admitted that India were not great with the bat as losing early wickets put them under pressure.
“Looking at how the tournament has gone for us, batting second in the first five games, we had to come and bat here. We were challenged upfront, they bowled pretty well upfront. For us to get to a total on a pitch that had something in it, we just wanted to get to a total where we could play with it. We were not great with the bat today. Losing three wickets isn’t the ideal situation,” he added.
Talking about the batting performance, Rohit said that they were 30 runs short as few players including him played threw their wickets in attempt to play big shots.
“When you are in a situation like that, all you are looking to do is create that long partnership, which we got. But couple of guys threw it at the end, including myself. All I was thinking was to be positive, the balls in my area I want to put it away, that’s how you put pressure back on the bowlers and the opposition as well. When you look at the overall picture, I thought we were 30 runs short,” he added.
The 36-year-old further heaped praises on Shami and Bumrah to exploit the conditions well to put doubts in the batters’ mind which helped them take wickets at regular intervals.
“It’s not something you see everyday. When you start your innings, you have to somehow try and get a couple of wickets to put the pressure back on the opposition. With the experience that our seamers have now, you can always rely and bank on them to get those crucial breakthroughs. That’s exactly what our seamers did. They exploited the conditions pretty well. There was swing, there was lateral a bit of lateral movement as well. They put the ball in the right areas to create that doubt in the batters’ mind,” he added.
When asked about where this is the best pace attack, Rohit asserted that they have a good balance with quality pacers and spinners who can take advantage of the Indian conditions.
“I think so. We have a good balance, couple of good spinners, and the seamers have a lot of experience playing in these conditions. There’s a fair bit of options and experience as well. It’s very important that the batters put runs on the board, give them something to work with and then rely on them to do the magic,” he concluded.
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