Rohit Sharma Stresses On Picking Wickets in Middle Overs

By: BCCI

The loss in the first ODI would have hurt, especially after putting up 309 runs on the board. But that loss hasn’t created a dent in the morale of the Indian team. India opener Rohit Sharma said the team was still upbeat and was eagerly looking forward to the second ODI at the Gabba on Friday.

“Our morale is very good because we played very good cricket and we know that,” Rohit said. “But we need to learn how to take wickets in the middle. How to build pressure in the middle overs is something we need to be aware off.”

“Whoever is bowling in the middle overs, spinners or fast bowlers, they just need to make a habit of making breakthroughs in the middle which is very important. If wickets fall in the middle, then it affects the momentum of the opposition team. That is what we need to do in the second ODI.

“In Perth, we batted and bowled well with the new, ball but were halted in the middle phase of the game. Australia created a very good partnership and after that we were not able to get back into the game. We still need to work well in our bowling and get those breakthroughs whenever there is a big partnership going on.

“If you don’t take wickets in the middle, it is always going to get difficult especially here in Australia. We know where we went wrong and I’m sure we will come back knowing what we can do as a group and put our best foot forward.”

Talking about batting partnerships, Rohit and Virat Kohli put up a 207-run stand for the second wicket in the 1st ODI. The duo kept a close check on the scoring rate and scored at close to 10 an over in the final ten overs of the match. Rohit said the two were determined bat as long and deep as they could.

“When me and Virat were batting in the middle, the idea was to capitalise and bat as long as possible because we had a couple of newcomers coming in the side in the middle order,” explained Rohit. “As the top three batsmen (Shikhar and Virat being other two), it is a big responsibility on the three of us to bat as long as possible. When we bat, we are not too worried about the strike rate because we know we can cover it up in the end. That is what happened at the WACA. We scored about 90-95 runs in the last ten overs.”

The opener also reckoned the conditions at the Gabba won’t be very different to how they were at the WACA. “Conditions will be very similar to what we had in Perth. We might get a bit of extra bounce here (at Gabba) I guess. Perth was a little bit on the slower side once the shine was taken off the ball. Here the fast bowlers might get a little more assistance through the longer period.”