India white-ball skipper Rohit Sharma on Wednesday said his side sees something special in Ravi Bishnoi and that is why he was chosen in the playing XI against West Indies in the first T20I. Ravi Bishnoi’s two-wicket haul was backed up by quality knocks by Rohit Sharma (40) and Suryakumar Yadav (34*) as India defeated West Indies by six wickets in the first T20I here at the Eden Gardens on Wednesday.
“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 told host broadcaster Star Sports at the post-match presentation.
“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 added.
Earlier, Nicholas Pooran starred with the bat as he played a knock of 61 runs to help West Indies post 157/7. For India, Ravi Bishnoi and Harshal Patel returned with two wickets each.
“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,” said Rohit.
“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 added.
With this win, India has gained a 1-0 lead in the three-match series and the second T20I will now be played on Friday at the same venue.
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“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,” said Rohit.
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