Rohit: “Not much thought about the toss. Always nice to post some runs and give the bowlers a chance to do what they did the other night. You cannot really plan around dew. You need to do what you want to achieve as a team, and today we want to post runs on the board. Have solid confidence on the bowling unit. Three changes. KL misses out, got some niggle. Deepak Hooda also misses out, and Chahal. Kuldeep, Shreyas, Shikhar are in.”
Pooran: “We would’ve liked to bowl too. The batting failed us last time. We need our batters to stay in and not leave the finishing to someone else. Want to win the important moments. Forced change: Akeal Hosein OUT, Hayden Walsh in.”
ICC Rankings Test, ODI & T20I
India vs West Indies 3rd ODI Highlights today, Friday 11-2-2022 – 3rd ODI (D/N), West Indies tour of India from Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.
Rohit Sharma win the toss and opt to bat first.
India team: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Washington Sundar, Deepak Chahar, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj.
West Indies team: Shai Hope, Brandon King, Darren Bravo, Shamarh Brooks, Nicholas Pooran(c), Jason Holder, Fabian Allen, Odean Smith, Alzarri Joseph, Hayden Walsh, Kemar Roach.
Match Timings: 08:00 GMT | 13:30 Local
Umpires – Anil Chaudhary, Nitin Menon
TV Umpires – KN Ananthapadmanabhan
Match Referee – Manu Nayyar
Reserve Umpire – Jayaraman Madanagopal
Match number – ODI no. 4356
Iyer:
“Wasn’t easy to bat. When I walked in, the ball was seaming and swinging. Dhawan and I decided we will play close to our body and punish only the 1-2 loose balls. They were also not sticking to one line so we had an advantage. 50 overs is a long time, so you need to give yourself some time early on and cover up later. It was two-paced obviously but there was some extra bounce. The cuts that I usually hit, I was missing them today. We’ve got to bowl really well to defend this. If the situation demands and the skipper thinks I need to do a few overs, I am up for it and have the confidence. To be honest, I played a very bad shot when I got out. I had 15 overs left. Something to think on. Had a brief chat with coaches and teammates. Something to learn from there.”
Chahar:
“I want to do well with the bat, ball, or fielding when playing. I was bowling well and could’ve bowled a few better areas. (Batting) I try to play to the situation. We had lots of overs left when I came in. But it was difficult to bat due to the bounce. So I tried to target the spinners. I could’ve played 2-3 more overs. (When the ball is now swinging) This wicket was different. You just have to pick the length since there was bounce. On flatter wickets, I need to do more pace and length variations. I have learned a lot while batting with a bowling machine that if there isn’t a variation then it is easy for a batter.”
Siraj:
“It was swinging in the first game. In the second and third game, it was less swing but it was. We wanted to use the swing in the new ball. (Dropped catches) They are part of the game. And then players can also take unbelievable catches. I moved on next ball and focused on my bowling areas. Just focused on my bowling. When Smith came, he is a T20 player, so I thought I’ll bowl him quick back of a length. If he hits me from there, then it’s a good shot. Eventually was successful. The scrambled seam is my wicket-taking ball. Even in red-ball, it works. And then I also do outswing and inswing, so the scrambled seam can help me take wickets.”
Post Match Presentation.
Pooran, the losing captain:
“Wonderful opportunity. Must say congratulations to Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid – the first white-ball series victory for them. The way we bowled in the series was wonderful. We have a lot of work to do with bowling and batting, more so batting this series. The way the boys bowled was fantastic. It seems like we are better at the shorter format, but we need to put in work in the longer format.”
Shreyas Iyer is the Player of the Match He says:
“To be honest, life was really tough for me last two months. Had an infection and Covid, but this day has summed up for all those days. I am flexible to bat anywhere but No. 4 is the best number to bat at. If I am thrown into a pressure situation like today, I thrive on it and enjoy those moments. When I go in, like today’s situation, I had to play off the new ball. For that, you need to have good skills and play close to the body. From there you need to set the rhythm through the innings. It’s not easy, but if you focus on your skills you can do it.”
Prasidh Krishna is the Player of the Series. He says:
“Now that I’ve been practicing and played a few Vijay Hazare matches I have a few overs in me and am in rhythm. Anything going to the keeper or the slips, I like that kind of wickets. Today both wickets I got, it was quite nice to see the ball got the carry, and good to have people behind who won’t miss out when you create an opportunity. When you are running in and see the ball flying to the keeper, it’s what any fast bowler wants. The kind of guys we have in the team, everybody is good and we’ve been learning from each other. Anybody who turns up can do very well – that’s the team effort. Still being grounded that way, it’s a team effort. If we look at the three games, we batted quite well even though the wicket had something.”
Rohit:
“Not looking at those (personal win numbers). We have ticked a lot of boxes in this series. Whatever we wanted to get out of the series, we got what we wanted. The noise will be around as long as we are playing. We know we are playing a high-profile sport in India and people look up to us and watch us. As players and individuals, we know what we need to focus on. The outside noise doesn’t bother the dressing room. As long as we can come out and do what we are expected to do, that is very important. (Prasidh) We wanted bowlers to get bounce off the pitch, we had somebody who could come and bowl those lengths and ask those questions to the batters.
It was good to see our fast bowlers, was impressed even with Siraj the way we bowled. And Shardul, Deepak got the opportunity at different times. Both Kuldeep and Chahal are crucial players for us. They have done well together as a group, especially Kuldeep since Chahal was very much in the plan but Kuldeep went off the radar a little bit. It was important to get him back and get him back slowly. We do understand what he/they bring to the table, give them confidence and for them to try and do what’s expected from them to do. We start expecting things a little early, and we are pretty sure we can see them back together very soon. (Middle order today) With the top order not firing, it was good for the middle order to bail us out. Today they got us to a respectable total. This was the biggest positive.”
