Asia Cup | We wanted to learn from mistakes we made in last game, says Rohit Sharma
After a below-par performance against Hong Kong the night before, Rohit Sharma revealed that the Indian team wanted to be at their best and learn from their mistakes as they went up against Pakistan. India eased their way to a comfortable eight-wicket victory in their second Asia Cup match in Dubai.
Team India was given a major scare in their Asia Cup opener against minnows Hong Kong who put up a strong batting display before eventually falling short by just 26 runs, which had left India's bowling attack in a lot of doubts ahead of their huge clash against Pakistan.
However, last night’s performance by the bowlers against archrivals Pakistan was a reminder that form could be temporary, but class is permanent. In the scorching Dubai heat, Bhuvneshwar Kumar (3/15), Jasprit Bumrah (2/23), Kedar Jadhav (3/23) and Kuldeep Yadav (1/37) stepped up their game dismissing Pakistan for a paltry 162 runs. Stand-in skipper, Rohit Sharma, admitted after the game that his team was doing their best to avoid the same they had made against Hong Kong.
“Right from the start, we were quite disciplined. We wanted to learn from the mistakes which we made in the last game. Today was a great game for the bowling department because I knew the conditions weren’t great for it. But we kept the conditions aside and did the job.
“We stuck to our plans.
An injury to all-rounder Hardik Pandya meant that Kedar Jadhav had to step in and bowl more overs as compared to what was planned previously. But that proved to be a blessing in disguise, as the man of the match - Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, lauded Jadhav’s brilliance with the ball in recent games.
“Always good to bowl any team out for a low total. Great to see Jadhav bowl well in the absence of Hardik Pandya. On a track where the ball doesn’t swing, it’s important to bowl back of a length and try to hit the stumps.
“The key was not to give too many runs and force the batsmen to make mistakes. It’s tough and hot, also the tracks are flat and perhaps due to the heat, Hardik got injured as he was playing in England and couldn’t adjust to the different conditions here,” Kumar said.
