A thriller of a first innings, followed by an even more exciting chase that ultimately resulted in a Super Over, and to top it all off, a nail-biting second Super Over being forced. The third T20I between India and Afghanistan had it all. Finally, it was down to India to keep the Afghans at bay for less than 12 runs, and the man called in to bowl them out: Ravi Bishnoi.
Many would have criticized the Indian skipper for bringing in a spinner in the ultimate do-or-die. Even, Bishnoi himself did not expect to be called up for the task.
“Both of us were told to be ready but when they (Rohit Sharma) saw two right-handers coming in, they asked me to bowl with the bigger leg-side boundary,” Bishnoi told Jio Cinema after the match.
This only proved to be a moment of genius from Rohit Sharma as Bishnoi wrapped up the Afghan innings in a mere three balls, conceding 1 run and scalping 2 wickets to send them home and help India clinch the series 3-0.
Heavy is the head that wears the crown but nothing seemed to daze skipper Rohit Sharma who was praised by his head coach Rahul Dravid, also confirmed that it was Rohit’s idea to throw the ball to Bishnoi, for his decision-making at the most clinical moment.
“No gimmicks no strategy, just a simple decision in the end. I think when Rohit went with Bishnoi, he went with his gut feeling. I think he felt that the spinner had a chance to take two wickets. It was one of those days when 11 was probably not a huge score. It was one of those games where you knew if they batted six balls with the power they had, they probably would have scored 12 runs,” Dravid said in the post-match press conference.
“So you needed to take two wickets and I think it was a great call from the skipper because he (Bishnoi) could have gone for two sixes. But I thought Bishnoi was brilliant because he bowled two superb balls; he just kept the length back, and had it gone slightly fuller, the way they were batting probably on a small ground would have gone for a six.
“Really good gut call from Rohit, to go for wickets, be more positive and aggressive rather than probably a safer option which people would have expected,” Dravid added.
Afghanistan matched India pound for pound, scoring as much as India did during the 20 overs to take the game to a tiebreaker, which also ended in a draw. India finally managed to dig out a win in the second Super Over as Rohit Sharma and Ravi Bishnoi starred with the bat and the ball respectively.
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