"Bowlers handled superbly" - Twitter erupts in praise of Rohit Sharma's captaincy as India beat West Indies in 2nd ODI
Rohit Sharma captained India to victory in the 2nd ODI against the West Indies in Ahmedabad as the hosts took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the ongoing series today. India successfully defended a total of 237/9, bowling the West Indies for 193 on the back of Prasidh Krishna's four-wicket haul.
Having put up a low total, Rohit Sharma was praised for his tactics and bowling changes that helped India chip away at the visitors' batting lineup. Apart from Prasidh, Shardul Thakur claimed two scalps while Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar and Deepak Hooda all picked up one wicket apiece.
The new India ODI skipper was proactive with his bowling changes and used all his bowlers well, never letting the opposition really settle in.
Social media was abuzz with praise for the 34-year-old's captaincy. Here are the best reactions on social media:
How brilliant Rohit is as a captain…doesn’t allow the game to drift at all. #IndVWI
Ian Bishop said "Captain Rohit Sharma always hunting for the wicket, that's the key thing of his leadership going ahead".
Anxious moments when Smith used bat like a lumberjack, but ultimately India clinch match & series with convincing win. Bowlers handled superbly by Rohit. Prasidha was the pick. Windies bowled well, but die was cast when top order flopped. Tail wagged, however left too much to do
Today Rohit Sharma's batting made us upset but his Captaincy literally filled us with happiness & joy , feeling proud to be his fan , Indian team is in safe hands. #INDvsWI
Captain Rohit Sharma. That's it. That's the tweet 🦁💯
#RohithSharma @ImRo45 https://t.co/Wh6QkpP64D
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We won ! 🤩 Great Captaincy by Captain Rohit Sharma,defending low score is really a very tough thing & great bowling by Prasidh Krishna 💪 .
#RohitSharma | @Imro45 | #INDvWI https://t.co/IxPJj9EaBN
Rohit Sharma the Captain 😌💪👏
Bold and Correct Decision,Field Placements, Bowling Changes,
To win a match By defending less than 240, A Clinical Series Win.
Also Prasidh Krishna with ball, outstanding spell
#INDvsWI #RohitSharma #WIvsIND
#PrasidhKrishna https://t.co/rDd7BPUitg
Rohit Sharma seals maiden series win as India's ODI captain
Having been ruled out of India's tour of South Africa earlier this year with injury, the three-match series against the West Indies was Rohit Sharma's first as full-time ODI captain. With the 44-run win today, Sharma sealed a series win in his maiden assignment to get off to a positive start.
West Indies won the toss and opted to field. India opted to experiment, with Rishabh Pant moving up to open the innings alongside the skipper. However, it did not work out very well as Sharma's wicket fell early on. Pant tried to steady the ship with Virat Kohli, but the two fell in a single over by Odean Smith to leave India in dire straits.
However, Suryakumar Yadav and KL Rahul put on a magnificent 91-run stand to rescue the hosts before the latter was run out on 49. Yadav went on to make 64 off 83 deliveries, with some support from Deepak Hooda (29). Washington Sundar chipped in with a knock of 24 as India managed to post 237/9 on the board after 50 overs.
The West Indies got off to a good start with the bat before Prasidh Krishna came on to bowl and immediately made an impact. He dismissed opener Brandon King in his first over and followed it up with the wicket of Darren Bravo in his next.
The West Indies innings slowed down after the double blow and there was more trouble to follow for them as Yuzvendra Chahal removed Shai Hope. Nicholas Pooran, who stood in as captain in the absence of Kieron Pollard, was sniffed out quickly as Prasidh returned to claim his third scalp of the night.
Shardul Thakur then got Jason Holder with a bouncer as he failed to clear the fielder in the deep with his pull shot.
There were two nifty partnerships between Shamarh Brooks and Akeal Hosein and then Hosein and Fabian Allen. However, the Windies could never recover from the early collapse.
The third and final ODI between the two sides will be played in Ahmedabad on Friday.