VISAKHAPATNAM: Comebackman Rohit Sharma, who was the architect of India’s nail-biting one-wicket win in the first ODI in Cuttack, on Thursday said leaving the task unfinished for the tailenders was a mistake he would never repeat again.
Sharma saved the day for India in the first ODI with a match-winning 99-ball 72 after the home team witnessed a dramatic batting collapse while chasing a modest 212 for victory.
But the right-hander from Mumbai was disappointed to have failed to finish off the match as he departed with India precariously-placed at 201 for nine, leaving the task to the last-wicket pair of Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron.
“I was little disappointed for not finishing the game. Winning the game is more important than scoring in a losing cause. I never want to do stuff like this again,” Sharma said.
“Leaving 10 runs for the bowlers to finish the game is always difficult. I will make sure it does not happen again,” he insisted.
Sharma, however, was satisfied that his half-century came in a winning cause for India.
“It was a close game no doubt. But it does not matter as we have won the game that is more important,” he said.
He said his game plan in the last match was to build partnerships after India were reduced to 59 for five at one stage.”It was not an easy situation to be in. They (West Indies) were bowling well. We wanted a partnership and when (Ravindra) Jadeja came in we just spoke about building small partnerships”, he said.
“We (me and Jadeja) shared about 80-90 runs of which was really crucial. When Jadeja got out we needed one more small partnership (with R Vinay Kumar). With dew, we knew it was not going to be easy for the bowlers,” Sharma said. (PTI)