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IND vs NZ: Despite win, former India player points Rohit Sharma's 'rare error', says 'it left me befuddled'
Team India after inviting New Zealand to bat first restricted the visitors on 164/6 in 20 overs. The Men In Blue then took 19.4 delivers to complete the run-chase and won the contest by five wickets.
It was Rohit Sharma's first match as full-time Team India captain and the senior batter will be happy with the outcome against New Zealand in the first T20I. The team secured a nervy five-wicket win over the Black Caps in a packed Sawai Mansingh Indoor Stadium in Jaipur on Wednesday night and will hope to repeat the same in the following two contests, which will be played on November 19 and 21 in Ranchi and Kolkata respectively.
Team India after inviting New Zealand to bat first restricted the visitors on 164/6 in 20 overs. The Men In Blue then took 19.4 delivers to complete the run-chase and won the contest by five wickets.
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Aakash Chopra, however, pointed out a ‘rare error’ from Rohit's successful outing, leaving the ex-India batter ‘befuddled’. The comments by Chopra came on his YouTube channel as he was reviewing the show put by the Indian bowlers.
"The Indian team said they need a fast-bowling all-rounder, so they played Venkatesh Iyer at six. But they didn't get him to bowl. I will say it's a rare error on Rohit Sharma's part, generally his captaincy is perfect, but it just left me a little befuddled," Chopra noted.
Iyer, who is deemed to be the find of the latest edition of the Indian Premier League, made his T20I debut as a sixth-bowling option. While the Kolkata Knight Riders recruit failed to show his expertise with the ball, he came to bat at a time when India required 10 off the final over. The 26-year-old kicked-off his international debut with a cracking four in the mid-wicket region but was dismissed in the following delivery when he tried to sweep the ball over the fine-leg fielder inside the 30-yard circle.
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Explaining how Rohit could have deployed Iyer's services with the ball, the cricketer-turned-commentator said he could have been used for an over or two when Deepak Chahar and Mohammad Siraj were struggling.
"They could have got him to bowl, when you had won the toss and got to bowl first and the opposing team was struggling, especially in the first half. You could have got him to bowl one or two overs because Deepak Chahar and Siraj were not having a good day," said Chopra.
With most of the senior players rested and promising youngsters waiting for their chance to shine, it will be interesting to see if the new Rahul Dravid, Rohit Sharma combination stick with the winning XI or experiment with other guys present in the camp.
