Indian captain Rohit Sharma unleashed the beast inside him as he displayed his six-hitting prowess with an unbeaten 46 runs knock that came off just 20 deliveries. He was well supported by Dinesh Karthik from the other end, who gave a perfect finish to the game. All thanks to their knocks, the Indian cricket team staged a remarkable comeback and leveled the ongoing 3-match T20I series against Australia with a thrilling win in an eight-over face-off.
The game also marked the return of India’s pace sensation Jasprit Bumrah, who impressed one and all with his performance. He picked up the key wicket of the Australian limited-overs skipper Aaron Finch just when he looked in complete control of the game. Axar Patel was also brilliant with his spell as he conceded just 13 runs in his two-over spell with the new ball. Australia finished with a score of 90 runs on the scoreboard, riding on the crucial cameo of Aaron Finch’s 31 in just 15 balls.
Despite wickets falling around him, Rohit continued his fluent knock and put India on the brink of a win. However, the game headed towards an intense finish with the Indian side needing 9 runs in the last over. Dinesh Karthik once again justified his spot in the team as he wrapped the game in a stunning way by smashing a six and a four of the first two balls of the last over.
ROHIT SHARMA ON HIS KNOCK
Meanwhile, after the match, Rohit Sharma talked about his performance, where he expressed how he was also left in shock by his knock. He said:
“I was quite surprised as well actually. Didn’t expect to hit it like that, glad it came off. For the last 8-9 months I have been playing like that. You can’t really plan too much is such a shortened game. The bowlers had something to bowl to and we bowled well.”
The dew started coming in later, which is why we saw a few full tosses from Harshal. Coming back after a couple of months, the back injury can be tricky. I am not going to talk too much about how he bowled. Got us the crucial wicket. As a team we are not going to analyse too much. Just want him to come and enjoy.
Axar can bowl in any stage, gives me an advantage of using the other bowlers in different situations too – maybe use the pacers in the middle overs if he bowls in the powerplay. I would like to see his batting as well.
Glad DK could finish well. Been a while since he had some time in the middle. There was this thought if we should get Rishabh in but I thought Sams is going to bowl off-cutters, so I thought let DK come in and he is playing that role anyway for us. Groundsmen have been here since 1.30 pm to get the outfield ready.“
AARON FINCH ON HIS SIDE’S PERFORMANCE
Australian captain also talked about the performance of his side. He said:“You probably plan for a 5-over game and then a bit more to it. Rohit played brilliantly and two overs of Axar made the difference. Wade is a calm customer at the back end and he has grown into that finisher’s role. Zampa was good too.”
DINESH KARTHIK ON HIS SIDE’s PERFORMANCE
Dinesh Karthik also went on to reveal the message he received from Rohit Sharma during their game. He said: “Rohit was trying to tell me this is what the bowler would do, I had my plans. As a middle order batter it is about execution. It feels good to hit the winning runs. Ro with the bat and Axar with the ball stood out, good to see Bumrah back. We need to take the momentum forward. 1-1 is a good score. You want to play those crunch games. But more importantly, we are happy to have put up a show for the crowd with no injuries.”
