Adelaide [Australia], November 9 (ANI): India’s star opener Rohit Sharma highlighted the challenges of playing on grounds across Australia with different dimensions unlike last year’s T20 World Cup where the grounds were more or less identical in size while speaking at the press conference in Adelaide on Wednesday.
“That’s one of the challenges you have in this tournament. In Dubai, the dimension of the grounds was almost the same. Here it is different in different games. Adelaide is one ground where you need to find out different ways. The side boundaries are smaller here. Melbourne was totally different,” stated the Indian captain.
The batter also informed reporters about the injury he sustained during the team’s net session and said that there was a bruise, but it’s better now.
“Was hit yesterday but it is fine now. There was a bruise but it is fine now,” informed Rohit.
Rohit backed Axar Patel over his performance in the T20 World Cup and said that the bowler has played on seamer-friendly wickets with the focus being on him bowling in the powerplay overs.
“To be honest I am not really worried about Axar. He hasn’t bowled a lot of overs. A lot of grounds except Sydney have assisted steamers. One bad tournament doesn’t mean he is not bowling well. For me, it is important for him to be in a good space. His strength is bowling well on the powerplay,” said the Indian opener.
Talking about India’s in-form batter Suryakumar Yadav, he said, “Suryakumar has it in him to take responsibility. He has shown maturity and it rubs off on other players batting with him. He likes playing on big grounds which he told me and not shorter grounds because he can’t see the gaps. The sky is the limit for him.”
The captain also laid stress on the importance of adapting to the conditions of the ground.
“I remember talking about playing fearlessly. Looking at the conditions here is not about coming and swinging the bat. It is about adapting to conditions,” he said.
The Indian captain explained the inclusion of Rishabh Pant in the last game and said, “Rishabh was the only guy who did not play. So, we wanted to give him game time. That was the thought. We have told the guys that they have to be ready for it. We wanted to provide an opportunity to the left-hander against spinners in middle overs.”
India had defeated England in the three-match T20I series 2-1 on their tour in July earlier this year. Suryakumar Yadav had scored 171 runs in three innings, with an incredible strike rate of more than 200.
Suryakumar smashed a brilliant century in the final T20I and scored 117 runs in 55 balls, almost taking India to a win. India had lost the match by 17 runs, chasing 216.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar was declared the player of the series for his superb bowling throughout the series, scalping four wickets at an economy of just 6.25.
India will be locking horns with a formidable England line-up in their semi-final clash at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday, November 10. Fans have been rooting for an India-Pakistan T20 World Cup final on November 13 at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground. (ANI)
This report is filed by ANI news service. TheNewsMill holds no responsibility for this content.
