‘Rohit, Dravid have ensured players’ security, freedom’

Basseterre, Aug 3: India skipper Rohit Sharma wants the team to step away from what it had been doing for the past five-six years and has given the players security and freedom to express themselves, said star all-rounder Hardik Pandya.
“Ro (Rohit Sharma) gives you a lot of flexibility and freedom which is his strength throughout his captaincy stint whenever I have played with him,” Pandya said after India’s seven-wicket win in the third T20I.
“A lot of credit goes to him and Rahul Dravid the way they have got the team together and making sure a lot of positive mindset comes in and players are feeling secure; they are not looking over their shoulder; making sure they are getting ample chances; they are getting told as well if they are not playing, and that is something which is commendable.” India chased down a target of 164 with ease on the slow surface at Warner Park to canter to a three-wicket win in the third game and take a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.
“Credit goes to Ro and the coach. We were all having a chat about how we should go about the slow wicket, do we still want to continue this style of play,” Pandya said.
“He gave us the freedom, saying that you know what, forget about the results, we are trying something new, we are going to make mistakes, we are going to learn from it.
“But what we have been doing for five-six years, we are going to go away from that, and make sure that we try everything and all options that are available, and when it comes to the World Cup, we’ll know how to play.”
Hardik said it was necessary for him to take some time off from bowling during his post injury recovery phase.
“I have always enjoyed bowling. I mentioned multiple times that I felt (that time) that I should take some time off to make sure that bowling comes back. Whenever I bowl well, it gives a lot of balance to this side and gives confidence to the captain,” Hardik said.
“I used to bowl as a filler before in between if someone was not bowling, now I can probably say that I can bowl four overs as a third or fourth seamer where I can contribute equally as I do with my bat.” (PTI)