Cricketer Dinesh Karthik lauded Team India captain Rohit Sharma for some of his decisions that proved key in India's 44-run series-clinching win over West Indies in Ahmedabad on Wednesday. After posting 237/9, India bowled out West Indies for 193, to seal victory and take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match ODI series. While Prasidh Krishna was the pick of the Indian bowlers with impressive figures of 4/12, Deepak Hooda and Washington Sundar also played key roles by bagging a wicket each at crucial junctures during the game. Hooda removed the well-set Shamarh Brooks while Sundar bagged the wicket of Odean Smith to end Windies' resistance.
Speaking about the wicket of Brooks, Karthik said Hooda did the job that he was assigned, albeit the blame for the dismissal lay with the batter.
“He (Rohit) is obviously having a beautiful run with his captaincy. He is doing a good job; you can see the way he has rotated bowlers – the best bowler on display today – Prasidh (Krishna) – has bowled in four or five spells and then bringing Deepak Hooda at a critical time,” Karthik told Cricbuzz.
“But I can say this that Shamarh Brooks will be really disappointed with that shot. I mean that was a nothing shot at that point of time. I am pretty surprised he played that shot. He was in the crease, didn't even step out, didn't get momentum into the shot. Anyway, what he brought Deepak Hooda for, Deepak Hooda got the job done. Kudos to him!” he added.
“I really liked the move of bringing Washington Sundar again when Odean Smith was going good. That's a brave move, a very interesting move to bring a spinner in the 45th over with the right-handers in play. I liked that. So he is willing to throw a bit of a bait and say, ‘Here we go. Off-spinner, slightly big ground but I want you to take him on. Let's see who wins this battle',” Karthik said of the Smith dismissal.
“The beauty about Washington is the fact that he is able to absorb pressure -- you know the batsman is going to go after him but you need some skill and some ability to clear a ball if it is in the right spot. That is the captain-bowler camaraderie blossoming,” he added.