AHMEDABAD: India captain Rohit Sharma on Friday said that the biggest positive out of the ODI series against the West Indies was the performance of the bowling unit.
India blanked the West Indies 3-0 as they recorded an easy 96-run win in the third game on Friday.
“The biggest positive was obviously our bowling unit. The bowling unit, if I have to differentiate, the fast bowlers and the spinners, they did a great job in this particular series,” Rohit said at the post-match press conference.
“Along with Prasidh (Krishna), (Mohammed) Siraj was outstanding the way he bowled, with a lot of pace again, with the new ball and in the middle.
“Shardul (Thakur) played a couple of games, he bowled well in the middle and got one opportunity with the new ball and Deepak (Chahar), was very impressed with his skills as well, the way he swung the ball,” he said.
The skipper also had words of praise for Karnataka speedster Prasidh Krishna, who took nine wickets in the series.
“Look, honestly I cannot tell you about Test cricket. But, certainly he has impressed everyone with his bowling in this particular series.
“We were looking for someone like him to come out and bowl those overs in the middle and get us those breakthroughs, and we saw that clearly, the way he bowled in the last two games, with a lot of pace. We could see that he was getting something out of the pitch as well.
“From the team’s perspective, it is a good sign that he was able to come out and do that. He is definitely a prospect for the future.”
Rohit said that the middle-order batting was good in the series after an ordinary show in South Africa.
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In Pics: Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant help India sweep ODI series against West Indies
Show Captions
<p>Rohit Sharma’s tenure as ODI captain began with a 3-0 clean sweep of the West Indies after India put up an all-round performance to win the third and final encounter by 96 runs in Ahmedabad. (Photo credit: BCCI Twitter)</p>
<p>Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant hit half-centuries to set up a thumping victory in the dead rubber. Iyer, who made 80, and Pant, who hit 56, guided India to 265 after they lost three early wickets while batting first. (Photo credit: BCCI Twitter)</p>
<p>Bowlers, led by pace spearhead Mohammed Siraj, then combined to bowl out the West Indies for 169 in 37.1 overs to seal their first ever ODI whitewash over their opponents. (AFP photo)</p>
<p>Siraj and fellow paceman Prasidh Krishna took three wickets apiece, while quick bowler Deepak Chahar and left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav also claimed two each. (Photo credit: BCCI Twitter)</p>
<p>But it was the 110-run fourth-wicket partnership between Iyer and Pant that made India bounce back from 43-3, having lost two key wickets of skipper Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli for nought. (ANI photo)</p>
<p>Chahar (38) and Washington Sundar, who made 33, got useful cameos before India were bowled out on the final ball of the 50th over. (Photo credit: BCCI Twitter)</p>
<p>For the West Indies, pace bowler Jason Holder stood out with figures of 4-34. (PTI photo)</p>
<p>Fast bowler Alzarri Joseph struck twice in the same over to take the wickets of Rohit (13) and Kohli — for the second time in the series — to rattle the hosts. (PTI photo)</p>
<p>Dhawan, who returned to the team after recovering from Covid-19 along with Iyer, departed for 10 after a 26-ball stay. (AP photo)</p>
<p>But the right-left batting pair of Iyer and Pant got going to rebuild the innings and take the attack to the West Indies bowlers. While Pant cracked fluent knock, Iyer unfortunately missed out on a ton. (PTI photo)</p>
<p>The West Indies were never in the chase as India bowlers kept taking wickets at regular intervals. Stand-in-skipper Nicholas Pooran, who led the side after regular captain Kieron Pollard missed the final two matches due to a niggle, made 34 and Odean Smith hit 36 off 18 balls. (Photo credit: BCCI Twitter)</p>
<p>Meanwhile, vice-captain KL Rahul and Axar Patel have been ruled out of the upcoming three Twenty20 matches, the Board of Cricket for Cricket in India said. Ruturaj Gaikwad and Deepak Hooda have been named replacements for the T20s starting Wednesday. </p>
“What we were worried about was the fact that, how we challenge in the middle overs, but our middle order batting in this series was very good.
“We batted according to the conditions and we had spoken about it for a long time that middle order does not get too many opportunities because the top three bat, but in this series, middle order batted well,” said Rohit.
Skipper also backed his predecessor and star batter Virat Kohli and laughed off concerns over his form.
“Virat Kohli ko confidence ki zaroorat hai? Kya baat kar rahe ho yaar,” quipped Rohit.
“It is a different matter that he did not get a hundred, but in the series against South Africa, he scored two half centuries in three games. I don’t think there is anything wrong. The team management is not at all worried about that,” he added.
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