Indian head coach Rahul Dravid expressed Ravichandran Ashwin’s praise for Rohit Sharma’s tactical abilities during the 1st super over against Afghanistan. The Indian captain retired during the super-over to put in Rinku Singh at the non-striker end for rapid running.
Rohit Sharma’s tactical genius was on full display during the first Super Over. Despite hitting Azmatullah Omarzai for consecutive sixes, Rohit onslaught ended the next ball for a single and reached the non-striker’s end. Understanding the gravity of the situation, The Indian captain retired himself and made way for Rinku Singh, whom the captain considered was better suited to run between the wickets.
Speaking to the media on Rohit Sharma’s tactical decision, Rahul Dravid feels that the decision was Ravichandran Ashwin’s level thinking and praised him for his outstanding batting despite India’s struggles at one time of the innings.
“Yeah, that taking himself out was Ashwin-level thinking. That’s Ash-level thinking but honestly, I think, he was brilliant. He has shown what a class player he can be. We were 20/4 at one stage and even when I went into the 10th over, the talk was always about being positive”.
“Obviously, you had to protect the game a little but at that score. We always have the mindset of wanting to go hard and set the pace but in games like this, you sometimes have to hold back a tad because you know you need a big score. And towards the end, just that level of batting, that level of hitting was special,” Rahul Dravid said.
Rohit Sharma demonstrated amazing courage and determination as he built an exceptional partnership with Rinku Singh in the 3rd T20I. The two helped the Men in Blue go from 22/4 in 4.3 overs to 212/4 in 20 overs. Rohit’s batting was incredible, with a strike rate of around 100 in the first half of the innings before taking on the bowlers in the second part of the innings.
Virat Kohli And Rohit Sharma Add A Lit To This Group – Rahul Dravid
Rahul Dravid hailed Rohit Sharma for the kind of shots he have in his books and believes that it is difficult to bowl in the back-end of the innings, given his all-round shot ability, and asserted that his and Virat Kohli’s presence contributes to a positive dressing room atmosphere.
“The thing with Rohit is just the kind of range that he has. It’s hard to bowl at him when he’s set at the back end because you can’t bowl short – he’s really got the pull shot. Good to have him back; his presence in the dressing room is helpful and terrific. Both Virat and him add a lot to this group,” Rahul Dravid added.
This was the ultimate comeback for Rohit Sharma, who had two ducks in the first two T20Is in Mohali and Indore. The Indian captain finished unbeaten on 121 off 69, as he and Rinku Singh combined 190 runs for the fifth wicket and took 103 off the final five overs. In the process, Rohit stole the record of most sixes struck by a captain in T20I, as well as most runs scored by an Indian captain.
