The first ODI between India and West Indies at Barbados on Thursday turned into an opportunity to experiment with the batting order for visiting captain Rohit Sharma as Men in Blue won the match by five wickets.
After West Indies were bowled out for just 114, India decided to send Ishan Kishan as an opener alongside Shubman Gill while Rohit dropped to the No 7 spot. Kishan is auditioning for the reserve opener/wicketkeeper’s role.
Even Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja and Shardul Thakur came out to bat ahead of Rohit as India decided to give batting time to middle and lower order batters.
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Virat Kohli did not even get a chance to bat as India finished the chase in 22.5 overs.
Rohit explained the changes in the batting order after India’s victory and added that more experiments could take place in the future as India look to ready their squad for the World Cup 2023.
“I made my debut for India and was batting at number 7, reminded me of those days,” Rohit said at the post-match presentation ceremony. “We wanted to give game time to the ODI guys who have come in, we will keep trying those things whenever possible. To restrict them to 115, we knew we could try these guys and give them a go.”
On the move to send Suryakumar at No 3 and Hardik Pandya at No 4, Rohit said: “I don’t think they’ll get many chances like this.”
The skipper also praised debutant pacer Mukesh Kumar, who recently made his Test debut as well.
“Mukesh was brilliant, he can swing the ball at a good pace. Good to see what he can offer, haven’t seen him much in domestic cricket. No matter the conditions, we need to bowl in the right areas to restrict them, and I thought our bowlers did brilliantly. And then Ishan was good with the bat as well.”
West Indies captain Shai Hope slammed the pitch and his team after the defeat.
“Not too many words come to mind. We didn’t play the way we needed to, we need to find ways to score on difficult pitches like this. I’m not making excuses, but anyone watching cricket can see what is happening here,” Hope said.
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