Former Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting. Picture: William WEST, AFP
Australia’s two-time ODI World Cup-winning captain Ricky Ponting said he told India skipper Rohit Sharma that his captaincy was outstanding in the side’s thrilling six-run win over Pakistan in a low-scoring Group A match in the T20 World Cup.
India were bowled out for 119 in 19 overs at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium on Sunday. In reply, India bowled superbly as Pakistan were restricted to 113/7 in 20 overs, to register their second win of the competition. Jasprit Bumrah was the hero of India’s win through his sensational spell of 3/14, including 15 dot balls.
He also got excellent support from Hardik Pandya, who took 2/6 from two overs after conceding 18 in his first two overs. Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh and Axar Patel took a wicket each to ensure India successfully defended their lowest total in T20s in a remarkable low-scoring heist.
“Sharma is a very experienced captain, isn’t he?” Ponting asked rhetorically. “And I just saw him then and said, ‘mate, your captaincy today was outstanding’. I don’t think he could have done much more.
“You think about a lot of the bowlers that he’s got in his team. He’s actually had those bowlers in the IPL as well, not only for India. So he understands them, knows when he can use them, but it’s one thing for the captain to set a plan, the bowlers are going to go ahead and execute it and Bumrah was outstanding.”
Ponting also praised Pandya for his economical second spell and Patel for his economical bowling in the match.
“I thought Hardik Pandya did a really good job with the ball as well, and then you break it down and this has been a wicket that the seamers have liked. But their spinners bowled four overs for 20 as well and Axar Patel picked up a big wicket. The wicket was definitely different in the second innings.
“I mean, you can see Pakistan got the ball to hold up through natural variation, and you know, it was just a little bit tacky, but when the sun came out, the wicket dried out quite quickly and then you have to, you have to adapt and adjust on the run. I thought he did that really well,” he added.
India, the 2007 T20 World Cup winners, now sit top of Group A and will next face co-hosts USA in New York on Wednesday.
IANS
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