“Got Everything We Wanted From West Indies Series, Good Sign Moving Forward As Group”: Rohit Sharma

India skipper Rohit Sharma on Sunday said that his side managed to achieve everything they wanted in the series against West Indies

India skipper Rohit Sharma on Sunday said that his side managed to achieve everything they wanted in the series against West Indies. Suryakumar Yadav’s 65-run knock was backed up by a spirited bowling performance as India defeated West Indies by runs in the third and final T20I here at the Eden Gardens on Sunday. Harshal Patel returned with three wickets while Venkatesh Iyer also got two wickets. “The team that used to chase, there are not many people from that squad. We wanted to bat first and chase as well in this series. Because our middle order is fairly new. Happy with the series. Pretty much got everything we wanted. We do understand we are very young as a team. We are still a good chasing side, but a lot of the players are missing. It was pleasing to see guys bailing the team out from situations,” Rohit told host broadcaster Star Sports at the post-match presentation.

“Good sign moving forward as a group and something to be proud of. The biggest takeaway in the ODIs was the middle order making it count. I was impressed with our seam bowling in ODIs. And even here. Harshal is new. Avesh is on debut. Shardul is in and out. So we wanted to see how the guys react and it was a good challenge to defend in both games against a quality West Indies team,” he added.

Earlier, Suryakumar Yadav (65) and Venkatesh Iyer (35*) starred with the bat as India posted 184/5 in the allotted twenty overs. In the last five overs, the hosts managed to add 86 more runs to the total, taking the score past the 180-run mark. Iyer and Suryakumar Yadav formed a 91-run partnership for the fifth wicket.

With this win, India won the three-match T20I series 3-0. Earlier, the Men in Blue had defeated West Indies 3-0 in the ODI series as well. India will next lock horns against Sri Lanka in a three-match T20I series, beginning Thursday.

“Few guys miss out on the Sri Lanka series because we want to keep them fresh. But we have the World Cup in mind and we are trying to give game time for individuals. I am not someone who looks at the opposition, I would like to see what we can do as a team,” said Rohit.