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India skipper Rohit Sharma on Thursday heaped praise on Shubman Gill and Axar Patel's partnership following the Men in Blue's triumph over England in the first ODI match of the series.
Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer's mouthwatering fifties helped India to clinch a four-wicket triumph over England in the first ODI match of the series at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur on Thursday. Speaking at the post-match presentation, Rohit accepted that the Yashasvi Jaiswal and he didn't start well in the second inning. The skipper also gave credit to the bowling attack for their stupendous performance in the first inning. "Pretty happy because we knew we were coming after a long time to this format. We wanted to quickly regroup and understand what is to be done. Didn't start off well with their openers putting pressure on us, but the way we came back was superb. This is a slightly longer format where you have time to come back. When things start to go away from you, it doesn't mean it will keep going away. Credit to the bowlers, everyone chipped in. It was important for us to keep us going, we took wickets at crucial time, the energy on the field was brilliant as well," Rohit was quoted by ESPNcricinfo as saying. Rohit further added that Axar and Shubman shined when they needed a partnership the most. "[Axar at No. 5] We want a lefty in the middle, it is simple. We know they have a couple of spinners who are going to bowl into the left-handers and we wanted one out there. Axar is an improved batter in the last couple of years, we got to see that today. We needed a partnership and Gill and Axar batted really well...," he added. Recapping the match, England won the toss and elected to bat first. Openers Phil Salt (43 in 26 balls, with five fours and three sixes) and Ben Duckett (32 in 29 balls, with six fours) gave England a fine start with an explosive 75-run opening stand. After England stumbled to 111/4, with experienced Joe Root (19 in 31 balls, with a four) in the pavillion, skipper Jos Buttler (52 in 67 balls, with four boundaries) and Jacob Bethell had a 59-run stand. After Buttler was dismissed, Bethell reached his half-century, scoring 51 in 64 balls, with three fours and a six. A cameo from Jofra Archer (21* in 18 balls, with three fours and a six) took England to 248 in 47.4 overs. Ravindra Jadeja (3/26) and Harshit Rana (3/53) were top wicket takers for India. Axar Patel, Mohammed Shami and Kuldeep Yadav got a wicket each. During the run chase, Shubman Gill (87 runs from 96 balls, 14 fours), Shreyas Iyer (59 runs from 36 balls, 9 fours and 2 sixes) and Axar Patel (52 runs from 47 balls, 6 fours and 1 six) played a stupendous knock and guided the Men in Blue to clinch a four-wicket win over England. Saqib Mahmood and Adil Rashid led the England bowling attack as they picked they two wickets each in their respective spells. The Men in Blue will lock horns against England in the second match of the ODI series on Sunday in Cuttuck. (ANI)
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