The third T20I between India and New Zealand in Hamilton which was also supposed to be the series decider turned out to be one of the most thrilling T20Is of all time as the match went down to the last ball and ended in a tie with India winning it in the super over, all thanks to Rohit Sharma.
But, in a press conference after the match, Rohit made it clear that it was Mohammad Shami’s bowling performance that won the match for the Men in Blue and not his two sixes off Southee.
“I think Mohammed Shami’s last over was crucial, and actually that got us the victory. Not my two sixes. It was Shami’s over where we defended nine runs. It’s not easy with the dew,” Rohit said.
“The wicket settling in nicely and two set batsmen out there as well... One batsman was batting on 95 and their most experienced player was at the other end. Hats off to Shami to bowl that over and get us back into the game and into the Super Over,” he added.
The Mumbai based batsman then talked about the reason behind India’s consistent performance as he said, “Whenever anyone’s got an opportunity, they have made it count. Shikhar (Dhawan) as well, when he played the last series against Sri Lanka, he got a crucial 50 and then KL (Rahul) has been in good form over the last 7-8 T20s, he’s got probably 4 or 5 fifties.”
Thus, it will be interesting to see how the 32-year-old performs in the fourth T20I against the Blackcaps at Wellington.
(With Hindustan Times inputs)
