IND vs WI: Nice To See A Captain Encouraging His Bowlers - Pragyan Ojha Lauds Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma has been drawing a lot of accolades with his pinpoint captaincy against West Indies. This is his very first series as India’s white-ball captain and he has done almost everything right. Former Indian spinner Pragyan Ojha has credited Rohit for using his bowlers well in the second ODI.

The Indian bowlers defended a lowish total of 237 as they won the game by 44 runs in the end. Prasidh Krishna took 4/12 as all the other bowlers chipped in with wickets as well. Speaking to Cricbuzz, Ojha praised Rohit Sharma for making his plans and sticking by them.

Rohit Sharma Planned Really Well And Everything Strung Together: Pragyan Ojha

“See, every captain does the planning part but there’s also a luck factor involved – whichever bowler he asked to bowl, did well and got him wickets. But I don’t want to take away anything from him. He planned really well and everything just strung together nicely for him.”

“You need to challenge the batsmen sometimes. The way he did that with [Odean] Smith by bringing in [Yuzvendra] Chahal and asking him to bowl slowly outside off-stump. It’s nice to see a captain encouraging his bowlers to play old-school cricket,” Ojha said.

Rohit was clever with his bowling changes and the use of his bowlers. Washington Sundar who had an off day was removed from the attack after proving costly. He was brought back in the 45th over and he delivered by removing Odean Smith who looked set on 24 off 20 balls and could have taken the Windies to a win.

Meanwhile, Prasidh was introduced by Rohit in the 8th over. He picked his first two wickets inside the first seven balls and then took the big wicket of Windies stand-in skipper Nicholas Pooran in the 20th over. His dismissal was very well thought about and planned by the Indian skipper. He was also critical in his use of Yuzvendra Chahal in the first two games. Chahal took four wickets in the first game and 1/45 in the second.

“These small things matter a lot to bowlers and their confidence. The same Chahal was looking muddled a few years ago but now the clarity in his thoughts is tangible,” said Ojha.

Also Read: Watch- Rohit Sharma Slams Yuzvendra Chahal For His Lacklustre Attitude On The Field