New York: India captain Rohit Sharma has been left flummoxed by the disconcerting bounce on offer at the Nassau County ground’s drop-in track but his pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah was glad to find conditions that favoured bowlers ahead of the marquee T20 World Cup game against Pakistan here on Sunday.
Rohit scored 52 off 37 balls before being forced to retire hurt in the team’s opening win against Ireland after a delivery from pacer Josh Little bounced a tad extra and hit him on the bicep of his right arm.
“Yeah, just a little sore (the arm). I said it at the toss as well. Quite unsure of what to expect from the pitch. Not aware on what it is to play like on a pitch that’s five months old,” Rohit said at the presentation ceremony on Wednesday.
But the variable bounce, which led to the ball kicking from length, did seem to bother him.
“I don’t think the wicket settled down even when we batted second. There was enough for the bowlers,” the Indian skipper said about his pace quartet, which bowled out Ireland for 96 in 16 overs.
With three of his four pacers having considerable Test experience , the conditions were tailor-made for them.
“Try to hit those lengths consistently. That’s what pretty much what you have got to do. All these guys have played a lot of Test cricket. Arshdeep is the only guy who hasn’t. His two wickets upfront set the tone for us.”
Bumrah, who had figures of 2/6 in 3 overs, had no complaints with the conditions.
“Coming from India, with the ball seaming around, I wouldn’t complain when there’s help for bowlers. In this format, you have to adapt to the conditions, you have to be proactive,” he said.
“Trying to stick to the plans and trying to go back to what has worked for me. You always want to cover all the bases in these conditions. You’ve got to be prepared, very happy with the outing today,” he added.
Having brought four spinners, Rohit isn’t sure if they would be required in New York at least.
“Don’t think we can play four spinners here (laughs). When we picked the team, we wanted to have the balance. If conditions are there for seamers, we wanted to have that. Spin will play a part later on (West Indies).
“Today was a four-seamer pitch and we still managed to get two spinners who are all-rounders.”
However, the Indian skipper isn’t sure what will be there on offer during Sunday’s Pakistan game.
“I don’t know what to expect from the pitch to be honest. We will prepare as if the conditions are going to be like this (for Pakistan game). This is going to be a kind of game where all XI of us will need to contribute.”
On his own innings, he was happy to start the tournament on a good note.
“It was scratchy, but good to spend some time in the middle and understand what kind of shots to play there.”
Ireland skipper Paul Stirling admitted that the Indians didn’t give them too much room to chance their arms.
“We needed to put a bit of pressure back on the Indian bowlers. They didn’t really miss that often. Their groupings and lengths were outstanding.”
