Indian skipper Rohit Sharma has justified his decision to intervene to ‘draw the line’ when Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami refused to hand over the cricket ball to him during India’s second ODI match against New Zealand.
India defeated New Zealand by eight wickets with 29.5 overs to spare. The hero of the match was Shami, who picked up three wickets by conceding just 18 runs in six overs.
Siraj also bowled brilliantly and gave away just 10 runs in six overs by taking one wicket.
Buoyed by their lethal bowling, both Shami and Siraj were keen to continue to carry on when Sharma stepped in to remind there were other bowlers in the team. When asked about the incident, Sharma explained why he needed to make the intervention.
“With the stuff that was happening on the pitch, they were quite happy to go on. But I told them that there’s a Test series (against Australia) coming up. So you need to look after yourself,” Sharma said after the match.
He added, “You know the ball is coming really well from their hand. So they really feel they are in rhythm and they want to continue. But I need to step in and draw the line and say ‘boss there are other bowlers as well.’ But, looking at how they are bowling and approaching the game is really magnificent.”
India had defeated New Zealand in the first ODI by 12 runs before inflicting a humiliating defeat on the Kiwis in the second. Siraj had picked up four wickets in the first match of the series.
Shami was declared Player Of The Match for his splendid bowling in the last match.