Indian skipper Rohit Sharma explained why he handed only one over to Mohammad Shami in the T20 World Cup 2022 warmup game against Australia at the Gabba in Brisbane. The pacer rested for most of the game and came on the field to bowl just the last over of the game.
India cliches thriller against Australia by 7 runs in the warmup game
In what was a thriller, India held their nerves better to start their campaign with a 7-run win over Australia in the Gabba. Asked to bat first, KL Rahul took India off the flyer and played a blinder, scoring 57 runs in just 33 balls.
Skipper Rohit Sharma (15), Virat Kohli (19) and Hardik Pandya (2) then struggled to get going but it was Suryakumar Yadav who yet again played staggering innings for his side and bailed them out of the trouble. On account of his half-century, a 20-run knock by Dinesh Karthik helped India post a total of 186 runs on the board.
What an over by Mohammad Shami – 2,2,W,W,W,W.
– Bowled his first over in the match under pressure and delivered it for India! He's earned that place, splendid over by Shami. pic.twitter.com/v7rpkIajK6
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) October 17, 2022
While defending the target they were under pressure as Australian skipper Aaron Finch kept smashing Indian bowlers out of the park for his 76-run knock. He was well supported by Mitchell Marsh (35) and Glenn Maxwell (23)
But in the Harshal Patel bowled a sensational 19th over and gave away only 5 runs to put India under pressure. With 11 runs needed off the last over, India surprised many by handing Mohammad Shami the last over. The pacer bowled a miraculous over as he conceded just 4 runs and took three wickets to help his side win the game by 7 runs.
Indian skipper Rohit Sharma explains why Mohammad Shami came to bowl the last over
Mohammad Shami was sitting in the stands for most of the games and it seemed that he won’t come to the ball and will be back for the second warmup game. But skipper Rohit Sharma surprised many when Shami came to bowl the last over and won the game for India.
Rohit Sharma said, "Mohammad Shami was brilliant. We know how lethal he can be with the ball, and we all saw what happened".
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) October 17, 2022
Rohit Sharma then at the post-match presentation explained why Shami to ball the last over. He said that they had planned to give pacer the last over and they wanted to challenge him. He said:
“He (Shami) is coming back after a long time, so we wanted to give him an over. Wanted to give him a challenge and let him bowl the final over, and you saw what he did.”
India will next lock horns against New Zealand on 19th October at the same venue.
