Indian skipper Rohit Sharma lavished praise on Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj after India won the second ODI against New Zealand by eight wickets at Raipur on Saturday. India’s opening pair of fast bowlers – Shami and Siraj – were right on the money against the Kiwis and skittled out the opposition for a paltry score of 108 runs after Rohit won the toss and decided to bowl first.
Shami accounted for Finn Allen and Daryl Mitchell whereas Siraj dismissed Henry Nicholls. Shami also dismissed the first ODI’s hero for New Zealand – Michael Bracewell and returned with impressive figures of 3-18 in the six overs he bowled. Thus, Shami was awarded the Player of the Match for his brilliant bowling performance.
Furthermore, Siraj continued his good form as he returned with 1-10 in the six overs. Moreover, Hardik Pandya and Washington Sundar took two wickets each whereas Kuldeep Yadav and Shardul Thakur picked one wicket apiece.
There was a lot of seam movement on offer at the new stadium in Raipur and the Indian bowlers were able to make the most of it by bowling in the right areas.
Rohit Sharma said in the post-match presentation, “The last five games, bowlers have really stepped up. Whatever we have asked of them, they have stepped up and delivered. You don’t usually see this type of seam movement in India, you generally see it outside India. These guys have some serious skills, they work really hard and it’s great to see them being rewarded. We trained yesterday and the ball was nipping around under lights. We knew that if they had 250 or so, it might have been challenging for us but that was the point of opting to chase. We batted first last game, so the idea was to challenge ourselves. Not sure what I’ll do at Indore (in the final game). The confidence is high within the group and that’s great to see. They (Shami and Siraj) were raring to keep bowling long spells but I reminded them that there is a Test series coming up as well (Australia at home), so we need to take care of themselves as well.”
On the other hand, Rohit has been under the scanner in the recent past as he hasn’t scored an ODI century in the last three years. Rohit scored a fine knock of 51 runs off 50 balls in the run-chase and went on to complete his 48th fifty.
Rohit added on his aggressive approach, “I’m trying to change my game a bit now, have been trying to take the bowlers on and I think that’s important. I know the big scores haven’t come, but I’m not too worried about it.”
Indian bowlers were clinical in the second game as they came up with a collective effort and they will look to continue the good show. The third and final ODI will be played at the Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore on Tuesday.
