Following a thrilling win, coming after two super overs, in the final T20I against Afghanistan, India captain Rohit Sharma was all in praise of middle-order batter Rinku Singh, saying the left-hander is coming of age and is creating an impression every time he’s got an opportunity.
At the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday night, Rohit became the first man to hit five T20I centuries through his 121 not out off 69 balls as India made 212/4. More importantly, he shared a 190-run partnership for the fifth wicket with Rinku, who was unbeaten on 69 off 39 balls. It also became India’s highest partnership for the fifth wicket in T20Is, breaking the previous record of 113 set by Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya.
“Creating a partnership was important, kept talking with Rinku to not lose intent. We may find ourselves in such situations in big games where we’d be 30 for 4. It was a good situation to be in with the pressure, was important to bat long, bat deep but not compromise on the intent we wanted to show.”
“In the last couple of series he’s played, Rinku can show what he can do. Fearless, keeps himself calm, is very clear about his game plan and knows his strengths very well. He’s coming of age, creates an impression every time he gets an opportunity.”
“In the last 10 innings for India, he’s done very well. We’ve wanted someone who can bat in the back end with a clear mindset. You saw how he’s done well in the IPL, he’s carried that forward here,” said Rohit after the match ended.
With both India and Afghanistan unseparated after 40 overs, the first super over was also tied at 16-all. Rohit hit two sixes in the first super over, before astonishingly retiring out to have Rinku do the running on the last ball.
Rohit, who later became Player of the Match, came back again and hit a six in the second Super Over too. But Afghanistan fell short, as they holed out twice to long-off against Ravi Bishnoi. “We don’t do that in Tests also [having three hits in a day], think it happened once in the IPL (laughs),” added Rohit.
Shivam Dube was named the Player of the Series for making 124 runs and picking two wickets in India’s 3-0 triumph. “Definitely a wonderful series, you dream of winning this award as an allrounder, happy to have achieved it. We didn’t think about the Super Over initially, but it was a great game by both teams. There are many aspects to work on, got to bowl in these three matches, I’ve learnt many things.”
Afghanistan skipper Ibrahim Zadran chose to see the positives from this series against, including being part of a double Super Over. “To be honest, happy with the overall performance. We have a lot of positives to take from this series. It’ll help us looking ahead to the T20 World Cup.”
“All the boys gave it their best in these three games. We’ve never played this kind of cricket earlier against the Full Members, especially against India in T20Is. We were excellent in the batting department.”