[Watch] Rohit Sharma picks up the last wicket to wrap up proceedings against Netherlands in 2023 World Cup
Team India skipper Rohit Sharma encountered a rare day on the field as he decided to bowl in the 2023 World Cup clash against the Netherlands on Sunday in Bengaluru. At the same time, the veteran picked up a wicket and wrapped up the proceedings as the hosts won comfortably.
The incident took place in the 48th over of the innings as the Indian captain chose to roll his arms over, having already bowled part-timers like Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill. Teja Nidamanuru, who was batting well, struck a maximum over deep mid-wicket. However, he hit the next delivery straight to long-on as Mohammed Shami took a simple catch.
It was also the 1st time he had bowled in an ODI since 2016 and snared his 9th wicket in the format. The Men in Blue set a daunting 411 for the Dutch to win after KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer struck centuries, with the duo sharing a partnership of 208 for the fourth wicket. Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, and Virat Kohli weren't far behind either, making brisk half-centuries.
"We wanted to try doing something different" - Rohit Sharma on trying part-time bowlers
Following the match, the prolific opening batter revealed that this was the match to try different things to see what they could get out of it. The 36-year-old said at the post-match presentation:
"When you have five bowlers, you want to create those options within the team. Today we had nine (bowling) options, it's important, this was the game where we could have tried certain things. The seamers bowling those wide yorkers when it was not needed, but we wanted to do that. As a bowling unit, we wanted to try doing something different and see what we can achieve."
Team India, winning all nine matches in the group stage, will face New Zealand in the 1st semi-final on Wednesday at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The Men in Blue beat the Kiwis by four wickets when the two teams met in the group stage, chasing down a 274-run target with 12 balls to spare.