Indian opener Rohit Sharma exhibited his top-game in the final T20I of the five-match series against England at Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium on Saturday. The Mumbaikar destroyed English bowlers from the word go and gave the hosts a flying start.
Team India vice-captain smashed his 22nd half-century in the shortest format and scored 64 from just 34 deliveries at a strike-rate of 188.24. The right-handed batsman slammed 4 fours and 5 humungous sixes during his explosive inning, which eventually helped the home side win the contest by 36 runs.
After the match, Rohit spoke about India’s probable team selection in relation to the T20 World Cup, scheduled to take place in October later this year. He said that it’s too soon to talk about batting line-up as they still have to analyse the best combination.
“There is still a long time to go for the World Cup, so it’s still early days to talk about what the batting line-up will look like. We have to analyse and think about what suits the team the most,” said Rohit in the post-match presser.
Rohit talked about KL Rahul and asserted that his exclusion from the Saturday night fixture was only a tactical move in order to play an extra bowler.
“We wanted to leave one batsman out to play an extra bowler. Unfortunately, it was KL, which was very tough. We know that he has been one of our key players in the limited-overs format, especially in the T20Is. But looking at the current form, I think the team management decided to go with the best XI,” Rohit added.
Rohit also hinted that Rahul’s absence in the final T20I versus England doesn’t send any signal as the team understands the importance of him at the top.
“It doesn’t send any signal that KL will not be considered or anything like that. This was just for one particular game. Things might change as and when we get closer to the World Cup. We understand his ability; we understand his contribution at the top of what he has done for us,” asserted the 33-year-old.
The Nagpur-born articulated they have enough time in order to choose the best possible XI for Team India concerning the T20 World Cup.
“I am not going to rule out anything, neither do I am going to say that this is the preferred batting line-up for the world cup. We have got good enough time in order to judge what will be the best possible XI for us,” Rohit added further.
