India had 10 runs in the bank for the final over in the second T20I against West Indies at the Warner, Basseterre, St. Kitts on Monday. Indian captain Rohit Sharma was expected to back veteran pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar but instead he gave the ball to Avesh Khan.
Khan could not keep his nerves as he overstepped on the first ball he bowled. The free hit was then dispatched for a six by Devon Thomas and it was enough to kill the run-chase.
Indian skipper Rohit Sharma revealed that it is important for him back bowlers like Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan, who are still new to the International circuit. The duo have done well for their respective teams in the IPL and Rohit feels it is important for him to give them a chance under pressure situations.
On the other hand, Arshdeep Singh conceded only four runs in the 17th over and gave away only six runs in the 19th over to leave 10 runs for the final over, in which Avesh could not execute his plans.
Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma admitted that they were not able to put enough runs on the board as they were skittled out for a paltry score of 138 runs. However, Rohit added that they will continue to bat with an aggressive approach and they aren’t going to change their batting template.
Rohit Sharma said in the post-match presentation, “Firstly, there weren’t enough runs on the board. We didn’t bat well. The pitch was playing nicely but we didn’t apply ourselves. But this can happen. When you are doing something as a batting group, you might not always succeed. But we will learn from this. It is all about giving opportunities to these guys.”
He added, “[On the last over] We know what Bhuvi does for us; he has been doing it for years. Unless you give chances to guys like Avesh and Arshdeep you’ll never know. But it is just one game. They have the skills and the talent and it is all about backing them. I am really proud of the bowlers and the team. Targets such as these can get over in 13-14 overs but we dragged it to the last over. I thought the guys executed the plans and really happy with the way the guys bowled. We have to look at some things in our batting. But I will say it again and again, this is the approach we want with the bat. We won’t panic. We won’t change anything after one loss.”
There is no doubt that India will look to come up with a better batting performance in the third match. Both the teams are preparing for the T20 World Cup and it was a good move from Rohit to give a chance to Avesh Khan in high pressure situation.
The third T20I between these two teams will be played on Tuesday.
