Team India skipper Rohit Sharma has stressed the importance of having a player like Rinku Singh in the latter part of the innings as the hard-hitting middle-order batter once again proved his worth with an impressive unbeaten 69 off 39 balls while partnering Rohit to rescue India from a challenging situation in the third T20I against Afghanistan in Bengaluru on Wednesday.
“The last couple of series that he played, he showed what he can do with the bat. Very calm and knows his strength pretty well. He is coming off age and doing what is expected of him and he has done really well for India,” said Rohit, who scored a memorable 121 not out off 69 balls — his fifth T20I century.
“It augurs well for the team moving forward, wanted someone like that at the backend and we know what he has done in the IPL and he has carried that to the Indian colours as well.”
It required two ‘Super Overs’ to determine the winner on Wednesday, ultimately resulting in India clinching the series 3-0.
Reflecting on the thrilling conclusion, Rohit remarked, “I don’t remember when was the last time this happened. I think I batted three times in one of the IPL games.
“Creating the partnership was important and we (Rinku and I) kept talking to each other to not lose that intent in big games and it was a good game for us to be in. The pressure was there and (it) was important to bat long and deep and not compromise on the intent we want to show.”
Afghanistan skipper Ibrahim Zadran was pleased with his team’s effort on the night.
“We are happy with the overall performance. We played good cricket, unfortunately we lost in the superover. We got lots of positives from this series and this experience will help us in the upcoming T20 World Cup.
“The boys gave their best in these 3 games. We never played this kind of cricket in T20, especially against India and in batting department as well. We will take some positives from this series and focus on improving a little bit in the T20 World Cup,” said Zadran.