'Pushing ourselves outside comfort zone and do the job in crunch situations': Rohit Sharma

With only two matches remaining before the T20 World Cup, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma has mentioned that they're consciously trying to put players under pressure by putting them into difficult situations and keeping an eye over how they react to that situation to find out the right combination. The Men in Blue have taken a 1-0 lead in the three match series against Afghanistan, thrashing them by six wickets in the first T20I in Mohali on Thursday.

Mohali: After registering a comprehensive win over Afghanistan on Thursday, skipper Rohit Sharma mentioned that the team management is knowingly trying to put players into crunch situation, taking them out of their comfort zone to see how they react to it. The three-match series between India and Afghanistan will be the last chance for the Men in Blue to pick the right combination ahead of the T20 World Cup slated to be held in West Indies and USA in June.

Speaking at the post-match press conference, Rohit said, "We want to keep trying different things - try and bowl our bowlers in different situations of the game, like you saw today, Washi (Washington Sundar) bowled the 19th over. We want to challenge ourselves in the areas we are slightly uncomfortable with and the bowlers are not used to that.”

"We want to try and do that. Keeping all of those things in mind, we'll try and do whatever is possible but not at the cost of the game. We want to make sure that we come out on top and play the game well. All in all, today was a good day for us," he added.

The hosts achieved the target with 15 balls to spare, courtesy Shivam Dube’s all-round performance with an unbeaten 60 off 40 balls and also pick-up a wicket of visitor’s skipper Ibrahim Zadran. Dube received a Player of The Match award for his impressive effort comeback game which came after not getting a chance to feature in five match series against Australia even after being picked in the squad while being dropped from the squad for South Africa series.

"There are a lot of positives. Shivam Dube, the way Jitesh (Sharma) batted, Tilak (Varma) as well and then Rinku (Singh) is in good form as well," the 36-year-old praised middle order batters for their extraordinary effort.

Rohit, who was making a comeback to the shortest format after 14 months, couldn’t open his account after a mix up with his opening partner Shubman Gill that resulted in his run out. In a rare sight, the India skipper vented out his anger following the miscommunication.

"These things happen (on the run-out). When it happens you feel frustrated, you want to be out there and score runs for the team. Everything will not go your way. We won the game, that's more important. I wanted Gill to carry on, but unfortunately got out after playing a very good innings."

"It was really cold. I enjoyed playing on this ground. Playing after a long time and batting at number four, there was some pressure on me. I had one thing in my mind that I have to play my game. First 2-3 balls, I feel a bit of pressure, after that I just focus on the ball and I don't think much about what's going on. In T20s, I know I can hit big sixes, so I can generate runs any time," he said.

Read More