“We were perfect in patches,” says Rohit Sharma after win in the first ODI against West Indies

Team India began a new era under ODI captain Rohit Sharma against West Indies at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. It was also India’s 1000^th match in this format since they began playing One-Day cricket and the hosts marked the occasion with a spectacular win.

The Men in Blue were in absolute control of the match since ball one and led by Yuzvendra Chahal and Washington Sundar, they bundled out the visitors for only 176 runs. Skipper Rohit Sharma led the run-chase with a fantastic half-century and despite a barrage of dismissals, Suryakumar Yadav and Deepak Hooda took the team past the finishing line.

In the post-match media conference, Rohit Sharma seemed to be happy with the team’s performance and suggested that they had ticked most of the boxes. However, he also added that the team was still open to changes and was capable of doing even better.

“To be honest, we were perfect in patches. I don’t believe in a perfect game. There is always something that you have missed. We want to keep getting better as a team and all in all it was a great effort from everyone. We spoke of what we wanted to achieve and we ticked all the boxes.

“We could have created more pressure in the middle. They [Holder-Allen] created that partnership and we wanted to get them out. I’m open to a lot of things if we need to change. The end goal is that we should be able to achieve what the team wants – whether we want to bat or bowl differently. Honestly, I don’t think we need to change a whole lot. All I will ask of the players it to challenge yourself and be innovative,” Rohit added.

Rohit Sharma also made his comeback after missing the series against South Africa due to injury. All eyes were on him in his first outing as full-time ODI skipper and Rohit dealt with the pressure immensely well. He played calculated shots, kept the scoreboard ticking and also made good decisions on the field.

“I’ve been off for a while and didn’t play for two months. I was back home, though, and hitting balls. It’s about finding rhythm as a batter and I was confident going into this game,” stated Rohit Sharma.