Rohit Sharma clears the air on why he stopped Indian bowling duo from bowling long spells

Team India’s pace bowling unit dismantled the New Zealand top order in the 2nd ODI of the three-match series on Saturday, paving the path for a massive eight wicket. After winning the toss and opting to bowl first, India were off to a flying start in the match as the Kiwi side was reduced to 10/3 in just eight overs. Veteran pacer Mohammed Shami kicked off the proceedings with Fin Allen’s wicket in the first over, before Mohammed Siraj removed Henry Nicholls in the sixth over, and Shami dismissed Daryl Mitchell in the very next over.

Surprisingly, Indian captain Rohit Sharma brought new bowlers after the eighth over, which became a talking point for cricket fans. Speaking at the post-match presentation, Rohit revealed why he opted against giving longer spells to the pace duo. “They (Shami and Siraj) were raring to keep bowling long spells but I reminded them that there is a Test series coming up as well (Australia at home), so we need to take care of ourselves as well. I need to step in and draw the line and say 'boss, there are other bowlers as well,” Rohit said.

“Whatever we have asked of them, they have delivered”

Further explaining his decision, the 35-year-old added, “I thought these last five games, the bowlers have really stepped up. Whatever we have asked of them, they have delivered. Especially doing this in India. You can expect these performances away from India, but they have real skills. When we trained here yesterday in the night, it moved around, there was good carry. Which is why we wanted that challenge: 250 would have been quite challenging”.

Meanwhile, shedding his thoughts on India’s win, Rohit added, “We trained yesterday and the ball was nipping around under lights. We knew that if they had 250 or so, it might have been challenging for us but that was the point of opting to chase. We batted first last game, so the idea was to challenge ourselves. Not sure what I'll do at Indore (in the final game). The confidence is high within the group and that's great to see”.

India pacers dismissed eight New Zealand batters in the IND vs NZ 2nd ODI

New Zealand were bowled out on the score of 108 runs in the 3rd ODI, which was chased down by India in just 21 overs. Shami and Siraj returned with figures of 3/18 and 1/10 in six overs each, respectively. Alongside the duo, Hardik Pandya picked up 2/16 in six overs, while Shardul Thakur returned with 1/26 in six overs. Spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Washington Sundar also contributed with a wicket each to India’s win.