Rohit Sharma defended the decision to make massive changes to the playing XI after India were beaten by Bangladesh in their final Asia Cup 2023 Super 4 match on Friday. India were already in the final of the tournament and for the inconsequential match, they decided to rest veteran players like Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav and Mohammed Siraj. On the other hand, youngster Tilak Varma was handed his ODI debut while Mohammed Shami, Prasidh Krishna, Shardul Thakur and Suryakumar Yadav made their way to the side. In the aftermath of the match, Rohit said that the idea was to give some game time for the cricketers and that can be important ahead of the ICC World Cup 2023.
"We wanted to give some game time to the guys, keeping the bigger picture in mind. Not compromising on how we wanted to play this game. Get in some players who are likely to play the World Cup," he said.
Rohit was all praise for the batting performances by Shubman Gill and Axar Patel.
"Axar batted brilliantly but couldn't finish. He showed a lot of character. But credit to the Bangladesh bowlers. Gill's hundred was brilliant. He backs his game, he knows exactly how he wants to play. Pretty clear on what he wants to do for the team. Look at his form over the last year. Pretty solid against the new ball. Works really hard, there's no optional practice for Gill," Rohit added while analysing the loss.
Shubman Gill's thunderous knock of 121 runs and Axar Patel's fighting 42 went in vain as Bangladesh fought back to end their Asia Cup 2023 campaign on a high by beating finalists India.
(With PTI inputs)