Indian captain Rohit Sharma said that the Indian cricket team has full faith in Bhuvneshwar Kumar's skills and backed the senior seamer to find his best ahead of the T20 World Cup 2022.
Bhuvneshwar was not impressive with the ball and leaked a lot of runs, especially in the death overs, in the recently concluded T20I series against Australia, which has been termed as a big concern for Team India ahead of the T20 World Cup 2022, starting on October 16 in Australia.
After India’s clinching a six-wicket win in the third T20I in Hyderabad against Australia, Rohit backed Bhuvneshwar to come good and asserted that the seamer will be given the ball in the death overs in the upcoming limited-overs series against South Africa, starting on September 28.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar picked 1/91 in 7 overs he bowled throughout the series with an economy of 13.00.
Rohit Sharma said in the post-match press conference: “It's important that we give him (Bhuvi) that space because when you have a guy like him in the team and the quality that he brings, we know that he's had more good days than the bad days in the last so many years.”
The Indian skipper continued, “We've been working on some plans, and hopefully, we can give him more options to bowl in the death. And then he'll be as good as he was before. I don't see that he is short in confidence. It's time for us to show that faith in him and keep backing his skill set.
From our side, we are trying to work out what are the things we can do because when you're bowling in the death you can't be predictable. You need to have options to bowl on both sides of the ground and set the field accordingly. And someone with that experience it'll be easy for him to grasp all that knowledge.”
Meanwhile, Harshal Patel also struggled with the ball as he conceded 99 runs for one wicket in eight overs in the three T20I matches against Australia, but Rohit said that the returning pacer should not be judged so early.
Harshal Patel had missed the West Indies tour and the Asia Cup 2022 due to a side strain and returned to Indian team in this series.
Rohit further added, “Harshal is an important player for us without a doubt. Coming back after an injury is never easy. He missed cricket for close to two months. It's not easy (to come back), so we've not judged him on how he is performing in these three games, because we know his quality.
He has bowled some really tough overs for us in the past and also for his franchise. It's important to keep showing that faith and I'm sure that you know he's also trying to rectify those mistakes and he's not too far from his best.”
IND v AUS 2022: WATCH- Suryakumar Yadav and Akshar Patel reveal they were unwell before the 3rd T20I
Speaking on the areas where India needs to work on, the skipper noted: “We want to tighten in all departments. I know our batting has been brilliant in the last eight or nine games that we played since Asia Cup. But we still want us to be more clinical, more aggressive, you know, and play with that aggression. We want to keep doing that. Bowling is the main focus. Fielding is one aspect that will never stop. We want to keep improving as a fielding unit all the time.”
Suryakumar Yadav (69) and Virat Kohli (63) added 103 runs for the wicket to guide Team India to a 6-wicket win over Australia in the series decider on Sunday, and Rohit was all praise for the duo.
The Indian skipper said, “When it comes to Surya we all know his quality. He can play the shots all over the ground. And that is what makes him special. He is just getting better and better. And today was an exceptional innings, to come out and play the innings that he played.”
He signed off by saying, “We were two down in the powerplay, and to take the game away literally from the opposition was a fantastic effort and not to forget it. You know, Virat is on the other side as well. What a crucial partnership (between Surya and Kohli).”
(With PTI Inputs)
