Rohit Sharma Responds to Criticism: India captain Rohit Sharma has defended the criticism laid against him of “throwing away his wicket” in the third ODI against Sri Lanka, which India lost by a huge margin of 110 runs.
The visitors went down embarrassingly on Wednesday evening at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo as Sri Lanka won their first ODI series against India since 1997. The first match of the series was tied, while Sri Lanka won the second game by 32 runs.
Chasing 249, India were bundled out for only 138, thus conceding an ODI series loss against Sri Lanka after 27 years.
As he did in the first two games, Rohit Sharma gave India another fast start. But this time, he couldn’t reach a half-century, and other batters capitulated once again.
With the help of six fours and one six, Sharma cracked 35 runs off 20 balls. He was dismissed by Dunith Wellalage.
In the first two ODIs, Rohit smashed 58 (47) and 64 (44) to give India strong starts in the chases of targets of 231 and 241, respectively. However, the other batters failed to take India over the line.
Sharma finished as the leading run scorer of the series, scoring 157 runs at a strike rate of 141.44, easily being the most fluent batter across both teams in this series. But with no support at the other end, India succumbed to a series defeat.
My batting plan is pretty simple and straightforward: Rohit Sharma Responds to Criticism
Speaking in the post-match press conference, the India captain alluded to his game plan. He said that scoring quick runs in the powerplay was crucial for him as the ball is hard, and once it gets softer and starts turning, it would become difficult to score.
Sharma said,
“I knew that the runs that will be scored during the powerplay will be critical. I knew that the wickets will get a little slow after that, the ball will turn a bit and even the field is spread out. When there are only two fielders outside the ring, we had to take our chances. I took those chances whenever I felt that I could put the bowler under pressure. All the runs that you score over and above that, it benefits the team to play the remaining 40 overs.
“My personal effort was to ensure that I score as many runs as I could. It was not as if I wanted to throw my wicket away after the powerplay. I wanted to continue the momentum and intent, but I unfortunately got dismissed while trying to play a few shots. My batting plan is pretty simple and straightforward.”
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