The Indian head coach Ravi Shastri has all praises for India’s stand-in Rohit Sharma for leading the team from the front at the Asia Cup 2018 in the United Arab Emirates. India lifted their seventh Asia Cup trophy in Dubai on Friday and a lot of credit for that goes to injured Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar kept their cool to steer India to victory over Bangladesh in the final. Chasing 223, India lost their way in the middle after the dismissals of their top-3.
India’s regular skipper Virat Kohli was rested for the Asia Cup after a grueling tour of England and Rohit was named the captain for the 6-nation tournament. He led from the front and smashed 317 runs from 5 matches at an average of 105.66.
Talking about his contribution after the match, Shastri said, “Rohit was a calming influence and it showed on his captaincy. To keep his intensity going even after the start they had, showed he was really cool in every aspect of captaincy, the bowling changes he made were really good.”
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Rohit was in top form right through the tournament and he started the chase confidently even after losing Shikhar Dhawan and Amabti Rayudu in quick succession. However, he fell on the bowling of Rubel Hossain for 48. Rohit’s dismissal brought Dinesh Karthik and MS Dhoni together and gradually, the pair started opening up but Karthik was done in for 37 by Mahmudullah when he missed a full-length ball hit him in front of middle stump.
The team was relying on Dhoni but he was still far from his best. However, Bangladesh’s hopes were raised when Kedar Jadhav walked in to bat and after playing a couple of breathtaking shots, began to cramp up. Dhoni, under pressure to get on with the scoring, played a rash shot and fell to Mustafizur Rahman. Soon after, Jadhav had to retire hurt.
However, that turned out to be a blessing in disguise as Bhuvneshwar and Jadeja stitched a crucial 52-run partnership put the men in blue back on track. While Kumar and Jadeja were dismissed in the penultimate over, Jadhav returned to the middle to hit the winning runs off the last ball.
Shastri was also impressed with the intensity India played. India remained unbeaten on the tournament, winning four and one matches ended in a tie. Describing the same, he said, “This is a different format and we needed to start afresh. I liked the intensity with which we played, we were a bit flat against Hong Kong in the first match, but pulled up afterward. The biggest plus was the fielding, game after game, we saved around 30-35 runs in these oppressive conditions. We took wickets consistently and during the middle-overs, the bowlers were outstanding, we bowled well with the new ball in tough conditions and then the spinners came to the party.”
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Here’s what other Indian cricketers said after the match:
Bhuvneshwar Kumar: Hong Kong was a wake-up call for me. When you come back from injury, it takes at least one game and that was the game for me. Don’t want to give room to the batsman. On these wickets, a drive is an easy shot for a batsman. So the plan was to bowl back of a length. He’s (Bumrah) an amazing bowler. We keep talking on our plans.
Ravindra Jadeja: I was almost out for 15 months and I wasn’t feeling good. I want to play white-ball cricket, I just wanted to prove myself and improve on my game. You need to prove yourself when you get the opportunity, you need to show you are good enough. I just wanted to play my natural game, try and hit the ball well and win the game for my country.
Kuldeep Yadav: He (Jadhav) just told me to back myself and be careful while running. The wicket was good to bat on today, compared to the last game. More you play here, more you get better. First game I was struggling to get my line right. Have scored a lot of runs in first-class cricket, so qualify me as an all-rounder.
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Kedar Jadhav: I’ve been in this situation a few months back. Knew field will be up in the end and will be easy to take one or two. The way Kuldeep batted gave me confidence too. I’m still a batsman who can bowl. It’s (injury) at least Grade I or II tear. Let’s see tomorrow (Saturday).
India’s next assignment starts in a week’s time when they host West Indies for 2 Tests, 5 ODIs and 3 T20Is starting October 4.
