Rohit Sharma reveals why Virat Kohli didn't bat in the first ODI vs West Indies

India captain Rohit Sharma came in to bat at number 7 allowing others a chance to bat in the first ODI.

Turning Kensington Oval wicket produced a dismal day for batting in the first ODI. India eventually managed to win the first ODI by 5 wickets. Captain Rohit Sharma after winning the toss asked the West Indies to come and bat first. Rohit’s decision proved in his favour with the way Indian bowlers started with the new ball. As soon as the spinners were brought in, the true face of the Kensington Oval wicket came up.

Ravindra Jadeja (3 wickets) and Kuldeep Yadav (4 wickets) rattled the hosts for just 114 runs. Chasing 115, India didn’t have an easy chase with a changed batting order as West Indies spinners also got a lot of turns and picked up 5 Indian wickets. Gudakesh Motie (2 wickets) and Yannic Carriah (1 wicket) were getting a huge turn from the wicket. 

Kensington wicket surprised Rohit Sharma

Indian captain Rohit Sharma was surprised to see a huge turn from the wicket at Kensington Oval and said, “To be honest, I never thought the pitch was going to play like that. It was the team’s need that we wanted to have a score in front of us but never thought the pitch would deteriorate like that. It had something for everyone. But never thought we’d restrict them to that low score.”

Rohit Sharma batted at number 7, while Virat Kohli didn’t get the chance to bat in the first ODI. The team management decided to give younger guys more chances with the bat, Talking about the change in batting order Indian captain said, “We said that we wanted to give a chance to the guys, never thought we will lose 5 wickets but it was a good chance to give a chance to a lot of the guys who have just come in and didn’t get much time in few weeks.” 

Indian captain Rohit Sharma also praised debutant Mukesh Kumar. He got his maiden ODI wicket as Alick Athanaze tried to play a cut shot on his bowling. Mukesh got him caught at the point to Ravindra Jadeja. Praising Mukesh, captain Rohit said, “Mukesh has been brilliant. Even in Tests, we saw he can swing the ball, he has a bit of pace and he is quite consistent as well. So we want to see what he has to offer. I have not seen him much so it was good to see what he can do with a white ball.” Mukesh made his test debut earlier in the last week against West Indies at Queens Park Oval in Trinidad and Tobago.

Kuldeep Yadav was awarded player of the match for his magnificent bowling spell of 4/6 in 3 overs in the first ODI. Kuldeep bowled 2 maidens in his quota of 3 overs.