India captain Rohit Sharma was not entirely pleased with the disconcerting bounce offered on the virgin track at the Nassau County pitch, which left him with a bruised right bicep. Although the match against Ireland ended in a straightforward victory for the Indian team, Rohit was forced to reflect on the team’s selection strategy for the big encounter against Pakistan on Sunday. In a chat during the post-match presentation ceremony, the Indian captain admitted that selecting 4 spinners in the 15-man squad doesn’t make much sense if the pitches in the T20 World Cup are similar to those in the squad. In New York.
Although Rohit is not too happy with the conditions considering the team selection, pacer Jasprit Bumrah will not mind surfaces that are rarely available in his home country of India.
Rohit scored 52 off 37 balls before he was forced to retire hurt after a delivery from Irish pacer Josh Little, who jumped a little further and missed a throw before being hit in the biceps area of his right arm.
“Yes, just a little sore (in the arm). I said that in the toss too. I’m not sure what to expect from the pitch. I don’t know what it’s like to play on a pitch that’s already five months old,” Rohit said with a straight face on the presentation ceremony.
But irritation with the variable bounce that led to the ball being kicked from long range seemed to bother him.
“I don’t think the wicket calmed down even when we batted second. There was enough for the bowlers,” said the Indian captain as his pace quartet saw Ireland bowled out for 96 in 16 overs.
With three of his four pacemakers having had enough tests, the conditions were exactly what the doctors prescribed.
“Try to hit those lengths consistently. That’s what you need to do. All these guys have played a lot of Test cricket. Arshdeep is the only guy who hasn’t. His two early wickets set the tone for us.”
Having brought in four spinners, Rohit is not sure if they would be needed at least in New York. As far as the conditions in the West Indies are concerned, the 4 spinners strategy may not be useful when India also travel to that part of the globe.
“I don’t think we can play with four spinners here (laughs). When we picked the team, we wanted to have the balance. If there are conditions for the seamers, we wanted to have that. Spin will play a role later (West Indies).
“Today was a four-seam pitch and we still got two spinners who are versatile.” However, the Indian captain is not sure what will be on offer during Sunday’s game against Pakistan.
“To be honest, I don’t know what to expect on the field. Let’s prepare as if the conditions were like this (for the Pakistan game). I need to contribute.” In his own innings, he was happy to start the tournament on a good note.
“It was tough, but it was good to spend some time in the middle and understand what kind of plays to play there.” Bumrah, who had figures of 2/6 in 3 overs, is obviously not complaining about the conditions.
“Coming from India, with the ball spinning, I wouldn’t complain when there is help for the bowlers. In this format, you have to adapt to the conditions, you have to be proactive,” he said.
“Trying to stick to the plans and try to get back to what worked for me. You always want to cover all bases in these conditions. You have to be prepared, very happy with today’s outing.” Irish captain Paul Stirling admitted that the Indians did not leave them much space to risk their weapons.
“We needed to put some pressure on the Indian bowlers. They didn’t make mistakes that often. Their groupings and lengths were excellent.”
With PTI inputs
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