You just can’t go and get 100-run partnerships that easy: Rohit Sharma

India crashed to a 34-run loss in the first of the three ODIs against Australia in Sydney to give a 1-0 lead to the hosts and will now have to win the remaining two games in Adelaide and Melbourne to win their first bilateral ODI series Down Under. Virat Kohli’s men had a forgetful day on Saturday particularly with their batting as they had a horrendous start chasing 289 with four for three! It was opener Rohit Sharma’s 129-ball 133 that was India’s saving grace as he single-handedly kept India in the hunt before falling to a tired-looking shot.

The focus was, however, on Mahendra Singh Dhoni who returned to international cricket after a while and scored a fifty but consumed 96 balls in the process. Coming into bat at No.5, the veteran wicket-keeper-batsman added 137 runs with Rohit but the asking rate kept on going high which eventually saw India’s lower order coming under immense pressure to perform. Dhoni’s return to form would be a welcome news for the fans but his continuing struggle with the strike rate would yet keep the team management under concern ahead of the World Cup.

Speaking in the post-match conference, Rohit, however, backed Dhoni and even said that he personally felt the former India captain should bat at No.4 though he left the actual decisions to be taken by the management. “When he (Dhoni) came out to bat today, we already lost three wickets and the guys were bowling pretty well at that point. We had to respect that spell and like I said, we wanted to get a partnership. You just can’t go and get 100-run partnerships that easy.”

“Sometimes, you got to grind it out. The bowlers are bowling disciplined lengths, it’s not easy for the batters to just go and start hitting,” he said, adding that even he took time in getting the partnership going for another wicket at that time could see the match going out of India’s reach at once.

Rohit also said that the current No.4 Ambati Rayudu has done well now at that position. Rayudu though fell for zero on his second ball.

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