T20 World Cup 2022: Wanted to give Mohammed Shami a challenge and let him bowl the final over – Rohit Sharma

Indian captain Rohit Sharma revealed why he gave only one over to Mohammed Shami in the warm-up match against Australia at the Gabba, Brisbane on Monday. Rohit surprisingly didn’t give the ball to Mohammed Shami in the PowerPlay overs, when he can get the ball to swing and seam both ways.

Australia needed 11 runs in the final over when Rohit threw the ball to Shami. The veteran pacer scalped three wickets as he was right on the money with his yorkers and conceded only four runs to help his team win by six runs.

Meanwhile, Shami is not known to be a specialist death bowler as he is more lethal with the new ball. However, in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, the experienced bowler might be given the ball at the fag end of the innings.

“Mohammed Shami was brilliant. We know how lethal he can be with the ball, and we all saw what happened. He 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,” Indian skipper Rohit said in the post-match presentation.

India’s bowling has been their Achilles Heel in recent times and Rohit added that they want more consistency from his bowlers.Mohammed-Shami-min (3)

“There is room for improvement, but I want more consistency from the bowlers. You need to keep things simple and hit the deck hard. Overall a good game for us, they had a decent partnership and that put us under pressure,” Rohit added.

Shami’s final over must have given a lot of confidence to Rohit Sharma. However, Shami will want to bowl more in the second warm-up match against New Zealand, which will be played on Wednesday at the same venue.

Shami has all the experience under his belt and he will look to deliver the goods for the team. India will play Pakistan in their tournament’s opener on Sunday at the MCG.