USA vs India: "We knew it would be tough" - Rohit Sharma - Cricket Winner

India skipper captain Rohit Sharma on Wednesday admitted that it wasn’t easy playing on a two-paced drop-in pitch at Nassau County ground. However, the game went to the end where India won eventually. However, India now have won three games as well in the ongoing T20 World Cup.

India registered the highest successful chase at this venue when they scored 111/3 in reply to USA’s 110/8 as Arshdeep Singh (4/9), Suryakumar Yadav (50 not out) and Shivam Dube (31) helped the team win as well.

“We knew it would be tough. Credit to us for the way we held our nerve and got that partnership. Credit to Surya and Dube for showing the maturity and taking us through,” Rohit Sharma said after the match.

Rohit Sharma applauds Suryakumar Yadav

However, the captain seemed relieved more than happy that they have won the game and qualified for the Super Eight stage of the T20 World Cup as well.

“Being in the Super Eight is a big relief — playing cricket here wasn’t easy (as) it could have been anyone’s game. We had to stick through till the end in all three games. We will take a lot of confidence from these wins,” he added.

He also praised each of the three key performers while lauding Suryakumar Yadav for changing his aggressive approach to anchor the run chase as well.

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“He (Suryakumar) showed he has a different game to him, that’s what you expect from experienced players. Credit to the way he stuck through today to take the game deep and win it for us,” he said. “We knew bowlers had to take the lead (as) run scoring was difficult. All the bowlers did the job, particularly Arshdeep.”

However, Rohit Sharma said since pacers were expected to dominate, the team decided to give Shivam Dube a chance to bowl too.

Arshdeep Singh steps up with the ball

“You want options and we should be able to use them as and when we can. Today, the pitch favoured the seamers so wanted to use him. (A) lot of these guys have played cricket together, very happy to see their progress. Saw them last year in MLC as well, they are all hard-working guys,” Rohit Sharma said while talking about USA cricketers.

Having produced the best T20I figures for India, talented Arshdeep Singh said that he wanted to make full use of a seam-friendly surface as well.

“In the last two games, I gave away little more runs, (and I) wasn’t happy with that. The team always shows belief in me and keep backing me, I had to deliver for them,” he said.

“The wicket is very conducive to fast bowlers and it’s helping us get some seam movement. The plan was simple, pitch it in the wicket and let the ball do the talking. Don’t give easy balls to score, our batsmen are also facing difficulties to score runs. The plan was to hit the hard lengths. In conditions like this, you can use the wicket more,” he concluded.