Indian skipper Rohit Sharma hailed young leg spinner Ravi Bishnoi as a special talent. He said that his side saw something different in the young spinner and that’s why they drafted him straight in the playing XI against West Indies in the first T20I in Kolkata. 

After clinching the ODI series, Team India started the T20I series on high, as they thumped West Indies by six wickets to go 1-0 up in the three-match series in Kolkata. 

Bowling first, after winning the toss, India had a dream start as Bhuvneshwar Kumar removed Brandon King in the first over for 4 runs. However, after that debutant, Ravi Bishnoi impressed many with his skillset and troubled the West Indies batters.

The leg-spinner claimed the figures of 2/17 and helped his side restrict the visitors to a total of 157. He was also awarded the Player of the Match for his heroics.

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Chasing the target, Rohit Sharma took his team off the flyer as he smashed quickfire 40 runs and stitched 64 runs opening a partnership with Ishan Kishan (35).

After the wicket of the skipper, India was in a spot of bother as they were reduced to 114/4. But an unbeaten 48-run partnership between Suryakumar Yadav (34*) and Venkatesh Iyer (24*) helped them seal the match by 6 wickets. 

Speaking at the post-match presentation, Rohit Sharma said that they should’ve finished the match early but he’s happy and will take a lot of confidence from this game. He admitted that they were not clinical with the bat and that’s something they can learn from. 

"Should have finished that off a little early, wanted to be clinical. Happy with the win and we can take a lot of confidence from this game. Restricting them to that score was a great effort from the bowlers. With the bat, we were not clinical and it's something we can learn from," Rohit Sharma said. 

Sharma admitted that it’s difficult for Shreyas Iyer not to make it into the playing XI but they wanted a bowling option and that’s why he didn’t fit. He remarked that it’s good for them to have that kind of challenge rather than not having players available. 

"Someone like Shreyas Iyer is sitting out, very hard on him not making it to playing eleven but we needed someone to bowl in the middle which is why we couldn't get him in. It's always nice with that kind of competition going around and a lot of the guys are missing out as well. I'm happy to have that kind of challenges rather than not having players available and not in form," he said. 

Indian skipper lauded Ravi Bishnoi as a talented guy. He said that the leg-spinner has a lot of variations and skillset which is why they drafted him into the squad. He called the youngster a bowler who can bowl at any stage of the game. 

"Bishnoi is a very talented guy which is why we drafted him into the squad straight away. We see something different in him. He's got a lot of variations and skillset with him. He can bowl at any stage and it gives us a lot of options to rotate the other bowlers," he said. 

Sharma said that he’s very happy with Bishnoi’s first game for India and he has a bright future ahead of him. He revealed that they made Shreyas Iyer understand that they want an all-rounding option going into the World Cup. And being professionals players understand that teams come first.  

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"Very happy with his first game for India and he's got a bright future and it's just about us now on how we use him. We were very clear with Shreyas and we told him we want that option going into the World Cup. Guys do understand what the team wants and all these guys are professionals and they do understand that team comes first," he said. 

Rohit Sharma further said that once every member of the team will be available they need to sit down and made them understand what the situation demands and they want them to put the team first. 

“Once everyone is available it's something we need to sit down and understand. Lots of things to take into consideration and sometimes it can be very tough on the guys missing out, but we want to make sure that we give out a clear message with guys performing needs to get that run and we want to put the team first," he concluded. 

The second T20I between India and West Indies will take place on Friday (18th February) at the same venue. 

(ANI inputs)