“Bowling Shami at the death was always the plan”: Rohit Sharma reveals why Mohammed Shami bowled only one over in warm up match vs Australia

Rohit Sharma reveals why Mohammed Shami: The Indian captain sounded satisfied with a 6-run victory at the Gabba today.

India captain Rohit Sharma believes that Australia vs India warm-up match in Brisbane was a “good game” for the visitors on the back of a 6-run victory.

Sharma, who sounded satisfied with his teammates making an impressive comeback in the last quarter of the match, still pointed out the need for them to do well in the death overs both with the bat and ball in hand.

According to Sharma, India were short of some 10-15 runs in spite of putting on board 186/7 in 20 overs after being asked to bat first by Australia captain Aaron Finch.

While a 34-ball 64-run opening partnership between Australia all-rounder Mitchell Marsh and Finch had put them on the front foot, a middle-order Australian collapse due to some sharp bowling and fielding by India powered them to a victory at the Gabba today.

Rohit Sharma reveals why Mohammed Shami bowled only one over in warm up match vs Australia

Fast bowler Mohammed Shami emerged as the biggest positive from an Indian perspective in the first warm-up match. Having surprised one and all due to his prolonged absence from the field in the second innings despite tweeting about his comeback in the morning, Shami entered the ground out of nowhere to bowl the final over with the opposition needing 11 runs to seal the chase.

Defending the runs successfully is one thing but the manner in which Shami executed yorkers in his solitary over became a source of delight for both the Indian team and fans back home. Having picked three wickets on his own in a four-wicket over, Shami didn’t give the Australian batters any chance to score a boundary in the 20th over.

“He [Mohammed Shami] is coming back after a long time. So, we wanted to give him an over. Bowling Shami at the death was always the plan. Wanted to give him a challenge and you saw what he did,” a relieved Sharma told the broadcaster after the match.

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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