[Watch] Rohit Sharma brings himself into the attack in IND vs SL 2nd ODI
Team India skipper Rohit Sharma rolled his arm over in the side's ongoing second ODI of the three-match series against Sri Lanka at R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, on Sunday, August 4. Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to bat first.
Sri Lanka were 147/6 after 37 overs. At that juncture, Sharma brought himself into the attack to mix things up. With two left-handed batters at the crease, the Indian captain backed his part-time off-spin to do the job.
The 37-year-old bowled a decent first over, giving away just six runs. He followed it up with another tidy over, conceding five runs. You can watch the video of Rohit Sharma's bowling below:
Rohit Sharma may not have bowled that much in the recent past but he is no mug with the ball. He was a handy bowler during the early stage of his career and even has an Indian Premier League (IPL) hat-trick to his name.
It is worth mentioning that the ongoing ODI series is Sharma's first assignment since the 2023 ODI World Cup. He notched up a fine half-century in the opening encounter, scoring 58 runs off 47 balls. The match ended in a tie, with the two sides scoring 230 each in their respective innings.
"I will focus on my batting" - Rohit Sharma on if he would be seen bowling in the IND vs SL ODI series
While Rohit Sharma bowled in the second ODI of the ongoing series, he had earlier hinted that he might not consider bowling, given that India have enough bowling options in their lineup.
Speaking at the toss ahead of the first ODI, the seasoned campaigner stated that the chances of him bowling are quite slim as he wanted to concentrate just on his batting. He said:
"Not really (on chances of him bowling), I will focus on my batting. We have enough bowlers in the squad that can roll their arm over."
India's new team management under head coach Gautam Gambhir seems to be keen on their batters bowling a few overs. The likes of Rinku Singh and Suryakumar Yadav bowled the crucial 19th and 20th overs, respectively, in the final fixture of the recently concluded three-match T20I series between India and Sri Lanka.