Team India captain Rohit Sharma didn't expect the Kensington Oval track to deteriorate so much but defended his decision to promote ODI specialists ahead of him and Virat Kohli in the first match in Bridgetown on Thursday.
India defeated hosts West Indies by 5 wickets in the first ODI of the series in a game where spinners had a big say. (Babar Azam's Pakistan Take Big Lead Over India In WTC 2023-25 Points Table After Series Win Vs Sri Lanka)
"I never thought the pitch would play like that, it was the team's need to bowl first. The pitch had everything for seamers and spinners, our guys did well to restrict them to that score," Rohit said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
The skipper himself came into bat at No. 7 and said that it made him take a trip down memory lane when he used to come in at that number as a rookie. Interestingly, Rohit batted at number 7 for India in a ODI series against South Africa in January 2011 and in April, India lifted the ODI World Cup beating Sri Lanka in the finals.
"I made my debut for India and was batting at number 7, reminded me of those days," Rohit said.
"2011 was a big setback year for me, not being part of the World Cup team, I have no one to blame but myself. I worked on my game. Yoga, meditation and living alone helped me a lot. I realized something has to change, knew my life was on edge and that if I did not improve, I would not be able to play cricket again. I made a lot of changes to myself between 2014-15, because I knew I would have nowhere to go otherwise. I had to think about how I could help my team, and take myself to another level. I found the answers to them myself," said Rohit in an interview about missing on the 2011 tournament earlier this year.
On a serious note, it was a move to give game time to white ball specialists like Suryakumar Yadav.
"We wanted to give game time to the ODI guys who have come in, we will keep trying those things whenever possible. To restrict them to 115, we knew we could try these guys and give them a go," Rohit said, defending the move of sending Suryakumar at No. 3 and Hardik Pandya at No. 4.
"I don't think they'll get many chances like this."
He also praised debutant seamer Mukesh Kumar, who has impressed one and all on Test debut.
"Mukesh was brilliant, he can swing the ball at good pace. Good to see what he can offer, haven't seen him much in domestic cricket. No matter the conditions, we need to bowl in the right areas to restrict them and I thought our bowlers did brilliantly. And then Ishan was good with the bat as well."
West Indies skipper Shai Hope kept it short but was very critical of a track that resembled rank turner.
"Not too many words come to mind. We didn't play the way we needed to, we need to find ways to score on difficult pitches like this. I'm not making excuses but anyone watching cricket can see what is happening here," Hope said.
