India skipper Rohit Sharma expressed happiness after his side defeated West Indies by 96 runs in the third and final ODI here at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Friday. With this win, India has got a clean sweep in the series with 3-0 lead, after clinching victory in the first two matches.
“Definitely not looking at those numbers (captaincy record). Have ticked a lot of boxes in this series. Whatever we wanted to get out of this series, we pretty much got. Noise will be around as long as we`re playing. People look up to us, everybody watches us. As players, as individuals, we know what we need to focus on. Outside noise doesn`t bother the dressing room. Said it in the last game as well – never seen something like that in India (Prasidh`s spell). Good to have someone who can hit the deck and get that bounce,” said Rohit after the game.
“Although I didn`t feel like this was Indian conditions, was good to see the fast bowlers actually. Was also impressed with Siraj. And then Shardul and Deepak did the job for us. Both Kuldeep and Chahal are crucial players for us. Especially Kuldeep. Chahal was very much in the plans and Kuldeep went off the radar. It was important to get him back slowly. Important to give them that confidence. We start expecting things early than expected, important to give them some cushion. Pretty sure we`ll see them together soon,” he added.
Chasing 267, the visitors began with a pathetic start as opener Shai Hope had to depart after getting LBW by Mohammed Siraj for just 5 runs, leaving the team`s total at 19/1. It was followed by Brandon King and Shamarh Brooks` dismissal by Deepak Chahar at 25/3 in the fifth over. Later, Darren Bravo joined skipper Nicholas Pooran and the duo tried to get some runs for their side, but Krishna Prasidh sent the former back to the dug out in the 14th over with only 68 runs on the board. Jason Holder was also dismissed for only six runs by the pacer. Kuldeep Yadav also scalped two wickets and dismissed Pooran and Fabian Allen on 34 and zero, respectively.
Then it was Odean Smith, who came to crease and played a knock of 36 runs in just 18 balls and brought some hopes for West Indies. But, their happiness was short-lived as he got caught by Shikhar Dhawan on Siraj`s delivery, with the team`s total at 122/8. Alzarri Joseph and Hayden Walsh joined hands to stitch a good partnership but their efforts went in vain after Siraj struck again and scalped Walsh`s wicket. Then, Krishna put the last nail on the coffin and sent Joseph back and dismantled the visitors at 169/10, to register a victory by 96 runs. Both the teams will now be facing each other for the T20I series in Kolkata, starting from February 16.
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