Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], January 18 : India head coach Rahul Dravid praised Ravi Bishnoi for his remarkable execution in the second super over and skipper Rohit Sharma for going with his gut and handing the ball to the spinner during their 3rd T20I victory against Afghanistan.
India's third T20I encounter with Afghanistan kept the spectators on the edge of their seats. Afghanistan's herculean effort to chase down the target of 213, took the match into a super over.
"No gimmicks no strategy, just a simple decision in the end I think Rohit went with Bishnoi he went with his gut. I think he felt that the spinner had a chance to take two wickets. It was one of those days when 11 was probably not a huge score. It was one of those games where you knew if they batted six balls with the power they had they probably would have scored 12 runs," Dravid said in the post-match press conference.
When the first super over couldn't yield a result, Rohit handed the ball to the spinner and he just needed three balls to dismiss both batters and defend India's 11-run total.
"So you needed to take two wickets and I think great call from the skipper because he could have gone for two sixes. But I thought Bishnoi was brilliant because he bowled two superb balls, he just kept the length back, he pulled the length back, if the length had gone slightly fuller, the way they were batting probably on a small ground would have gone for a six. Really good gut call from Rohit, to go for wickets, be more positive and aggressive rather than probably a safer option which people would have expected," Dravid added.
While Bishnoi and Rohit earned the plaudits, Shivam Dube with his consistency was crowned as the Player of the Series. In three outings, he scored 124 runs and bagged 2 wickets.
Dravid was pleased with Dube's performance and is hopeful that the left-handed batter can take the momentum to the upcoming Indian Premier League.
"Really happy to see the way he performed in the series, he has put his hand up, these are the skills I possess and he will have the opportunity to show it in the IPL like he did in last year as well. Really happy for him, he really showed us that he has got some really good ability through those middle overs against the spin. With the ball he bowled some good overs and he has learnt some lessons as well like it can be a very unforgiving while bowling in a place like Bangalore," Dravid said.
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