Rohit Sharma's Calming Influence Helped Team India In Asia Cup Final, Says Ravi Shastri

India won a thrilling final against Bangladesh by three wickets to claim their seventh Asia Cup title on Friday in Dubai. Opting to bowl after winning the toss, India bowled out Bangladesh for 222 in 48.3 overs. Despite an opening stand of 120 between Liton Das and Mehidy Hasan, India fought back from a tricky situation to restrict the opposition to a below par score. Captain Rohit Sharma maintained his calm in adverse situation and marshalled his troops brilliantly in the latter half of the innings. India took 10 Bangladesh wickets for just 102 runs. Coach Ravi Shastri hailed Rohit's calming influence on the team and praised the bowling changes he made.

"Rohit was a calming influence and it showed in his captaincy. To keep his intensity going even after the start they (Bangladesh) had, showed he was really cool in every aspect of captaincy," Shastri said after India retained the Asia Cup title.

"The bowling changes he made were really good, to concede just around 100 runs in the last 30 overs, I thought it was brilliant," he added. The coach said India's biggest gain from the Asia Cup was the high standards of fielding the players have displayed all throughout the tournament.

"I liked the intensity with which we played, we were a bit flat against Hong Kong in the first match, but pulled up afterwards.

"The biggest plus was the fielding, game after game, we saved around 30-35 runs in these oppressive conditions," Shastri observed.

"We took wickets consistently and during the middle-overs, the bowlers were outstanding, we bowled well with the new ball in tough conditions and then the spinners came to the party," he added.

Meanwhile, speaking about the Test series in England that India lost 1-4, Shastri reiterated that the eventual scoreline was not reflective of how well his team played. 

"It's a different format, but I think everyone knows how well we played in England, the scorecard really doesn't show it." he said. "This is a different format and we needed to start afresh."

(With PTI Inputs)

Topics mentioned in this article

India Cricket Team Bangladesh Cricket Team Rohit Sharma Ravi Shastri Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai Asia Cup 2018 Cricket India vs Bangladesh, Final