Bowling Shami at the death was always the plan: Rohit Sharma

India secured a thrilling win in their warm-up game against Australia at the Gabba to pave a smoother way to the upcoming grandeur between two arch-rivals on Sunday. With the battle of the giants preceded by another warm-up contest against New Zealand on Wednesday, Team India would be hoping to sustain their momentum.

It was a clinical display with the bat from KL Rahul who got off to a blinder while being supported perfectly by a late blitz from India’s in-form middle-order commander, Suryakumar Yadav. Rahul smashed a 33-ball-57 while Surya hammered a 33-ball-50 to help India post a staggering 186 on the cards. Virat Kohli and Dinesh Karthik got off to decent starts but couldn’t convert them into game-changers.

However, it was the last two overs of the day that reshaped the fate of the contest with Harshal Patel pulling off a ripper removing Finch while Virat Kohli’s joint wonders in the field allowing India to prepare for a grandstand finish. Mohammed Shami’s final over produced 3 wickets to his name as he was clinical with his lengths, belting out those menacing toe-crushers and hitting the bull’s eyes twice out of the 3 yorkers bowled.

Indian skipper, Rohit Sharma was pretty happy in the way things unfolded. He summed up his feelings about India’s win at the post-match conference, saying, “We batted well, towards the end we could have added 10-15 more. We wanted to stay till the end, which Surya did. It was a good pitch where you could trust the bounce which our batters did. You have to be smart while playing with big boundaries. Getting them is important but getting singles and twos to accumulate 8-9 in an over is just as key.”

He further spoke about India’s death over bowling where the Men in Blue have struggled the most in recent times, stating, “We have focused on that since Perth. We need to improve at the death. We need to change lengths and tactics. Sometimes hitting the deck is a good option. Overall, it was a good game. It was a good pitch and their batting put pressure on us. Bowling Shami at the death was always the plan and you saw what he did.”

The Men in Blue will be taking the yard against New Zealand in their last warm-up game ahead of their first bout in the T20 World Cup against Pakistan that will be played on Sunday at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.