Rohit Sharma wants India to play an additional spinner against South Africa
Rohit Sharma was critical of the performance of India’s medium pacers in their loss against South Africa in the T20 series opener at Dharamsala and urged them to step up, Times of India reports. The 28-year-old wants India to play an extra spinner in the 2nd T20I on Monday but added that skipper MS Dhoni would be taking the final call regarding team selection.
Rohit explained that India opted to go in with three seamers and two spinners as the team management was encouraged by the presence of a grass covering on the pitch but admitted that the de factor nullified any advantage of that decision.
"There was a little bit of grass covering on the wicket and we thought there would be a bit more seam movement, but the dew took it away. These guys know what exactly is expected from them. I'm sure they are trying their best to come out (of the loss), take wickets and be aggressive. Sometimes, things don't go your way. Dew made it difficult but don't want to look it an excuse."
Rohit though admitted that the seamers should have done better.
"I know they're not too experienced, but it's the same with the South African attack. But when you play these kind of tournaments, you grow as a cricketer," he said. "Bhuvi (Bhuvneshwar Kumar) has played quite a bit of late, Mohit (Sharma) has been a part of the team for a while now. (Sreenath) Aravind has just come in but he has been a proven character in the domestic circuit.”
Rohit put his weight behind the inclusion of another spinner in the side despite the fact that Axar Patel, who gave away 22 runs in the 16th over, one which was described by Duminy as the turning point in the match.
“Our spinners are experienced enough, understood the line and length to bowl. We have to wait and see what the management thinks about how to go about it," Rohit said before adding that the final decision will be taken by the Indian skipper.
"It depends on the captain and what he's comfortable with. Having three spinners or seamers. We have to play to their weakness. We know they are not so good against the spinners, but we have done some against their batters. We have to see what the captain thinks."
Whatever the team India decides to put out, Rohit is confident that the hosts will come up with a much-improved performance in the upcoming matches.
“Overall, there's a room for improvement, I'm sure the guys have learnt from it and they will come back stronger," he said.