Page 45 - The Indian EYE 081222

SPORTS AUGUST 12, 2022 | The Indian Eye 45

West Indies Alzarri Joseph celebrates a dismissal during the 1st T20I match on Friday (ANI Rohit Sharma plays a shot during the 1st T20I at Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Taroubaon
Photo/Windies Cricket Twitter) Friday (ANI Photo/BCCI Twitter)

order failed to click. at some things in our batting. But very proud of the team. The way we Indies by 68 runs in the first T20I of
PITCH WAS PLAYING NICELY: I will say it again and again, this is have played the whole series, every the five-match series against West In-
ROHIT SHARMA AFTER LOSS the approach we want with the bat. match we have shown our character dies, here at Brian Lara Stadium on
SECOND T20I We would not panic. We would not and turned challenges into great op- Friday.
change anything after one loss,” he portunities and I am happy with the “We want to do certain things
ollowing a crushing five-wick- added. way everyone has performed,” said when things, and I think we are able
et loss to West Indies in the The five-match T20I series be- Dhawan in a post-match press con- to achieve certain things. All in all, it
Fsecond T20I, Indian skipper tween West Indies and India is cur- ference. was a great effort. We want to con-
Rohit Sharma said that the pitch was rently level at 1-1. The skipper went on to praise tinue doing that. But again, we need
playing nicely but batters did not ap- West Indies made a comeback his team for their collective efforts to understand what sort of pitch we
ply themselves. in the second T20I, dismissing Men which led them to the ODI series win play on,” Rohit Sharma said in the
A destructive spell from pacer in Blue for just 138 in their first in- over West Indies. post-match presentation.
Obed McCoy (6/17) and a superb nings. Left-arm pacer Obed McCoy “As per the team’s perspective, “Certain pitches will not allow
half-century from Brandon King ran through the Indian batting line- there are a lot of positives to take you to do that. So. you will have to
(68) powered an all-round West In- up with a superb spell of 6/17. Har- from this series. Talking about the take a backward step and see how
dies to a five-wicket win over India dik Pandya (31), Ravindra Jadeja batting unit, everyone contribut- you can play in those over.
in the second T20I of five-match (27) and Rishabh Pant (24) played ed equally in scoring runs. Shreyas, The guys have a lot of skill, they
series on Monday. “Firstly, there some decent knocks for India. Shubman, Axar, everyone made runs have played on all sorts of pitches
were not enough runs on the board. Chasing 139, West Indies were which is a good sign for the team as back home. They just need to back
We did not bat well. The pitch was 3/83 in 12.3 overs at one point but they all are youngsters and playing in those skillsets. The Indian team has
playing nicely but we did not ap- a half-century from Brandon King such conditions was a difficult task,” received very good support here in
ply ourselves. But this can happen. (68) and Devon Thomas (31*) took said Dhawan. West Indies and we want to provide
When you are doing something as a the hosts to a series-levelling win. “In bowling, we had Siraj, Shar- them with entertaining cricket,” he
batting group, you might not always McCoy won the ‘Man of the dul, who bowled fantastically. Then added.
succeed. But we will learn from this. Match’ award for his match-winning we had Axar, Yuzi, and even Hoo- Talking about the assessment of
It is all about giving opportunities spell. da too bowled well. So, the bowling the playing conditions, Rohit Shar-
to these guys. [On the last over] We ‘TURNED CHALLENGES INTO unit also did well. It feels good when ma said, “The nature of the pitch, we
know what Bhuvi does for us; he has OPPORTUNITIES’: DHAWAN the entire team perform so well,” he knew was slightly going to be tough.
been doing it for years. Unless you added. The shot-making was not easy at the
give chances to guys like Avesh and ollowing a clean sweep in ROHIT HAILS TEAM’S start. At the same time, we do under-
Arshdeep you will never know,” said the three-match ODI series PERFORMANCE AFTER WIN stand that the guys who are set need
the Indian skipper in a post-match Fagainst West Indies, India IN 1ST T20I to carry on as long as possible. There
presentation. skipper Shikhar Dhawan stated that was some grip for the spinners. The
“But it is just one game. They he is pleased with the entire team’s fter registering a comprehen- odd variation wasn’t easy to pick.
have the skills and the talent and it performance as they turned chal- sive 68-run win against West “The nature of the pitch was
is all about backing them. I am really lenges into opportunities. AIndies in the first T20I, India slow. It was not easy. The way we
proud of the bowlers and the team. Top bowling spells from spinner captain Rohit Sharma praised Men finished off the first innings, getting
Targets such as these can get over in Yuzvendra Chahal and pacers Mo- in Blue’s all-round performance and to 190 was great. I really thought this
13-14 overs but we dragged it to the hammed Siraj and Shardul Thakur said ‘it was a great effort.’ wasn’t the pitch where you could get
last over. helped India crush West Indies by Tight bowling by India, led by 170-180 when we were batting in the
I thought the guys executed the 119 runs in the rain-hit third and fi- Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravi first half of the innings. But we hung
plans and really happy with the way nal ODI of the series here at Queen’s Bishnoi’s two-wicket haul respective- in there, backed our skills and got
the guys bowled. We have to look Park Oval on Thursday. “I am very ly helped Men in Blue to defeat West more than a par score,” he added.

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