In the second ODI against New Zealand, India captain Rohit Sharma had a serious conversation with Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj because they refused to make way for other bowlers.
On Saturday, Indian pacers dominated the second ODI against Sri Lanka, bowling out the tourists for a paltry 108 runs. With three wickets for only 18 runs, Mohammed Shami stood out as the game’s best bowler, while Mohammed Siraj’s new ball was outstanding as well, yielding just one wicket for ten runs in six overs. Both players wanted to keep bowling at the New Zealand hitters despite the favorable circumstances for the bowlers, but Rohit Sharma, the team’s captain, discouraged them.
Shami and Siraj reportedly wanted to keep going after seeing the support pacers were getting in the middle, but Rohit intervened and gave the ball to other bowlers.
At the awards ceremony following the game, Rohit revealed that he had to step in because Siraj and Shami wouldn’t let anyone else bat first.
“I had to remind them (Shami and Siraj) that we have a Test series coming up as well (Australia at home), so we need to take care of ourselves as well because they were eager to keep bowling extended spells. I must set limits by saying, “boss, there are other bowlers as well.” “says he.
The Indian skipper was effusive in his admiration of his team’s bowlers. The man spoke thusly: “The bowlers have really stepped up their games the last five games. They have completed all of the tasks we have assigned to them without fail. Notably so in India. Away from India, you can expect these kinds of shows, but they’re no joke. There was a lot of wind and strong carry when we trained here last night. In fact, the difficulty level of 250 was too low for our tastes, hence the higher target number was preferred.”
Announcing the victory and discussing their strategy for the upcoming second ODI, he stated, “The ball was zipping around under the lights as we trained yesterday. If they had around 250 people, we realized we might be in for a tough time, but that was precisely why we decided to go for the chase. The plan was to test ourselves after batting first in the previous game. What I’ll do in Indore is a mystery to me (in the final game). It’s encouraging to see such a high level of trust among members of the organization.”
India has a commanding 2-0 lead in the 3-game ODI series after their victory in the second match.
