India captain Rohit Sharma, lauded his bowling department for producing an outstanding performance against Pakistan in conditions which weren’t exactly bowling friendly.
On a flat deck and in sultry heat, Bhuveneshwar Kumar (3/15), Jasprit Bumrah (2/23), Kedar Jadhav (3/23) and Kuldeep Yadav (1/37) were on target as they dismissed Pakistan for 162.
“Right from the start, we were quite disciplined. We wanted to learn from the mistakes which we made in the last game. Today was a great game for the bowling department because I knew the conditions weren’t great for it. But we kept the conditions aside and did the job,” Rohit said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
“We stuck to our plans. Lot of improvement from the last game, spinners kept it tight, got the odd breakthroughs. The bowlers took wickets early as well, in the first 10 overs was magnificent. It was important to do that because they have quality in there and we wanted to make sure not to make things easy for them,” Rohit added. The skipper said that he told the bowlers not to panic during the 82-run tand between Babar Azam and Shoaib Malik.
Jadhav has been a surprise element since he started bowling the side-arm off-spin, which batsmen across teams have found difficult to hit.
“He (Jadhav) has been working on his bowling, takes his bowling very seriously. Every now and then, he does the job which is crucial. Enjoyed the little innings that I played, got out to a great delivery. We haven’t played here much but now we have understood how to plan on such pitches.”
Man of the match Bhuvneshwar Kumar praised Jadhav’s bowling.
“Always good to bowl any team out for a low total. Great to see Jadhav bowl well in the absence of Hardik Pandya. On a track where the ball doesn’t swing, it’s important to bowl back of a length and try to hit the stumps.
“The key was not to give too many runs and force the batsmen to make mistakes. It’s tough and hot, also the tracks are flat and perhaps due to the heat, Hardik got injured as he was playing in England and couldn’t adjust to the different conditions here.”
