Shastri suggests Rohit to play the aggressor at No 6
Rohit Sharma’s decision to bat in the middle order in the Adelaide and Brisbane Tests, has failed to yield the desired results for the Indian team in the Border-Gavaskar series so far.
A brilliant bowling effort saw India bundle out West Indies for a paltry 104 in the fifth and final One Day International (ODI) here on Thursday.
The Indian bowlers were on the mark right from the start. Some good line and maximum use of the conditions at the Greenfield International Stadium combined with some poor judgement by the West Indies batsmen helped the hosts create havoc in the visitors batting line-up.
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Apart from skipper Jason Holder (25) and experienced all-rounder Marlon Samuels (24) no other West Indies batsmen applied themselves and went back cheaply.
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For India, Ravindra Jadeja picked up four wickets while Jasprit Bumrah and Khaleel Ahmed took two wickets each. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Kuldeep Yadav scalped one wicket each.
Opting to bat, the visitors suffered their first setback in the opening over when Bhuvneshwar Kumar produced a fine outswinger to claim his 99th ODI wicket in the form of Kieron Powell (0).
Jasprit Bumrah struck in the very next over when Shai Hope (16) misread the line of a delivery which came in sharply after pitching.
With the scoreboard reading 2/2, all eyes were on Samuels and the in form Shimron Hetmyer (9). But after adding 34 runs for the third wicket, Samuels, who was looking good at the crease, was caught by skipper Virat Kohli off Jadeja in the 12th over.
After three overs, Jadeja then picked up Hetmyer. The West Indian was adjudged leg before wicket when the scoreboard was reading 53.
Holder then arrived at the crease and played sensibly with Rovman Powell (16), who was also playing cautiously from the beginning.
Just when things seemed good in the middle, Powell was dismissed by pacer Khaleel Ahmed.
With five top players back in the pavilion, lower-order players — Fabian Allen (4) Keemo Paul (5), Kemar Roach (5) and Oshane Thomas (0)– failed and went back one after another.
Holder also went in the 26th over and West Indies got bundled out for 104 in just 32 overs.
Brief scores:
West Indies: 104 (Jason Holder 25, Marlon Samuels 24; Ravindra Jadeja 4/34) vs India.
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