Ahmedabad: Indian skipper Rohit Sharma on Saturday lauded his bowlers for bundling out Pakistan for a paltry 191 on a pitch that had nothing much in it for the bowlers during their marquee World Cup match.
Five Indian bowlers grabbed two wickets apiece as the home side bowled out Pakistan in 42.5 overs, before chasing down the target in the 31st over.
Rohit was chuffed with his bowlers for laying the foundation of India’s eighth successive win over Pakistan in ODI World Cups.
“The bowlers were the ones who set the game up for us. I don’t think it was a 190 kind of pitch. At one stage, we were looking at 280,” said Rohit during the post-match presentation.
“The way they (bowlers) showed grit says a lot. That is something we pride ourselves in. Whoever gets the ball does the job for the team,” said Rohit.
“We’ve got six individuals who can do the job with the ball. My job as a captain is important there as well. It’s to read the conditions and figure out who’s the right guy to do the job,” he added.
The skipper also praised his batters who have been firing on all cylinders.
“It’s only because the guys – before entering the World Cup – they got a lot of runs. We were very clear (about) what we wanted to do. We didn’t want to be in two minds about who’s going to bat where.”
However, Rohit said it would be important to keep the momentum going and not get carried away.
“All in all, it’s looking good. I want to keep my fingers crossed, and don’t want to get too excited. I don’t want to get too low as well. We want to stay balanced, keep calm and keep moving forward.
“Every opposition we come up against is all quality. You have to play well on that particular day, and that’s what we’re looking at.”
Hard lengths were key: Bumrah
Pacer Jasprit Bumrah, who was adjudged the Man of the Match for his spell of 2 for 19, said his focus was on reading the wicket quickly and it helped him to find the correct length.
“It felt good. You get to analyse the wicket as soon as possible. We knew the wicket was on the slower side, so the hard lengths were the way.”
“We were trying to make it as difficult as possible for the batters. When I was young I used to ask a lot of questions, so that has helped me develop a lot of knowledge. I like to read the wickets and try a lot of options.”
Bumrah dismissed Mohammad Rizwan (49) and Shadab Khan (2) with two peaches.
Explaining the dismissals, Bumrah said, “I saw Jaddu’s ball was turning, so I count my slower ball as a spinner’s slower ball.”
“I thought that I could make the run-scoring tough, and it worked. There was a little phase in there where there was reverse swing. It was an outswinger (that) I was looking to ball (to Shadab), but there were parts of reverse swing happening.
“I have seen him (Waqar Younis) and Wasim Akram bowl some magical deliveries. So, to get his nod is great,” he added.
The collapse cost us: Babar
Pakistan skipper Babar Azam blamed the batting collapse for his side’s flop show.
The Men in Green had a good start and were 155 for 2 until the 30th over before losing the remaining eight wickets for just 36 runs.
“We started well. We just planned to play normal cricket and build partnerships. Suddenly, there was a collapse, and we could not finish well. The way we started, our target was 280-290, but the collapse cost us. The total was not good.”
Babar also credited Rohit for his glorious knock.
“We are not up to the mark with the new ball. Rohit played an outstanding innings. We just tried to take wickets, but that didn’t happen,” he signed off.
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