Rohit Sharma bats for MS Dhoni at No.4

India registered an astounding 93-run victory in the first T20 international at Cuttack. The duo of MS Dhoni and Manish Pandey batted stupendously in the end as India finished with a total of 180/3. The wrist spinners then stepped up as Sri Lanka were bundled for 87 runs.

Skipper Rohit Sharma was elated with the team’s splendid all-round performance. It was his first T20I game as the captain and Team India started off with a win. At the presentation ceremony, he spoke about the decision to bat Dhoni at No.4 as well as the impact created by the wrist spinners.

MS Dhoni batting at No.4 will be ideal

Lauding the finish provided by Pandey and Dhoni, Rohit said that both of them didn’t get to bat as much as they would’ve wanted in the ODIs. Speaking about Dhoni, in particular, the Indian skipper lauded him for having won so many games and thought that he was an ideal choice for the No.4 position.

“Great finish to the batting innings by MS and Manish, who hasn’t got much batting time. We can’t talk much about MSD. He didn’t get much batting in the ODIs but class is permanent. He is someone who’s played and won so many games, so moving forward, in this format, we feel him batting at No.4 will be ideal,” Rohit said.

Further, he spoke about how Dhoni had donned the finishing role for a long time. It was high time someone else stepped up and allowed him to play with more freedom in the middle order.

“For a long time, MS has taken up the role of finishing and we feel it’s time for someone else to do the job. MS can play freely in the middle. 180 was a great effort by the batting unit,” he added.

Chahal-Kuldeep don’t fail to impress us

The young captain was full praise for the spin twins, Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav. He felt that both of them rose to the expectations and delivered whenever the team required them to make a difference.

“Those two guys have always been a wicket-taking option in the middle. It’s important to understand what the team expects them and they’ve delivered. They don’t fail to impress us,” Rohit said.