Twenty20 World Cup preparation | Rohit keeps faith in Bhuvneshwar and Harshal

India skipper Rohit Sharma has backed pacers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Harshal Patel to hit form ahead of the T20 World Cup.

Following a disappointing Asia Cup campaign, the Indian team had something to cheer as it won the three-match series against Australia 2-1 after clinching a six-wicket win in the third game here on Sunday.

However, both Bhuvneshwar and Harshal, who made a comeback from injury, leaked runs in the series, ending with an economy rate of 12 plus.

“It’s important that we give him (Bhuvi) that space because when you have a guy like him in in the team and the quality that he brings, we know that he’s had more good days than the bad days in the last so many years.” “We’ve been working on some plans, and hopefully, we can give him more options to bowl in the death. And then he’ll be as good as he was before,” said Rohit in the post match media interaction.

Despite the woeful run, Rohit said Bhuvneshwar is not short on confidence.

“I don’t see that he is short in confidence. It’s time for us to show that faith in him and keep backing his skillset “From our side, we are trying to work out what are the things we can do because when you’re bowling in the death you can’t be predictable. You need to have options to bowl on both sides of the ground and set the field accordingly.

“And someone with that experience it’ll be easy for him to grasp all that knowledge.” Harshal, who is coming off a long injury layoff, also struggled, giving away 99 runs in eight overs in the three games but Rohit said the death overs specialist is not being judged on this series.

“Harshal is an important player for us without a doubt. Coming back after an injury is never easy. He missed cricket for close to two months. It’s not easy (to come back), so we’ve not judged him on how he is performing in these three games, because we know his quality.

“He has bowled some really tough overs for us in the past and also for his franchise. It’s important to keep showing that faith and I’m sure that you know he’s also trying to rectify those mistakes and he’s not too far from his best.” Assessing the team’s performance in the series, Rohit said “We want to tighten in all departments. I know our batting has been brilliant in the last eight or nine games that we played since Asia Cup.

“But we still want us to be more clinical, more aggressive, you know and play with that aggression. We want to keep doing that.” While the batting unit performed well, the bowlers struggled and the fielding from the side was also substandard.

“Bowling is the main focus. Fielding is one aspect which will never stop. We want to keep improving as a fielding unit all the time.” Suryakumar Yadav played a special 69-run knock to pave the way for India’s victory alongside Virat Kohli, who also scored a half-century in the third game.

“When it comes to Surya we all know his quality. He can play the shots all over the ground. And that is what makes him special.

“He is just getting better and better. And today was an exceptional innings, to come out and play the innings that he played.

“We were two down in the powerplay and to take the game away literally from the opposition was a fantastic effort and not to forget it. You know, Virat on the other side as well. What a crucial partnership (between Surya and Kohli).”

‘Want to give Karthik more game time ahead of WC’

Rohit Sharma wants to give wicketkeeper batter Dinesh Karthik more time in the middle before the team heads Down Under for the T20 World Cup next month.

Indian have been alternating between Karthik and Rishabh Pant in their playing XI.

While the young keeper was given the nod ahead of the veteran player in the Asia Cup, Karthik was picked for all three matches against Australia.

“I wanted both of these guys to have a number of games under their belt before the World Cup. When we went to the Asia Cup both of these guys were in the fray to play all games,” Rohit said at the post-match press conference after India clinched the three-match series against Australia on Sunday.

“But I just feel that Dinesh needs a little more game time. He hardly got to bat (this series). Just maybe three balls. So that’s not enough time,” Rohit added.

Karthik faced seven balls in total against Australia, while Pant played only one game where he did not get a chance to bat.

“Pant also needs game time obviously. But looking at how this series was it was important for me to just stick to that consistent batting lineup.” India take on South Africa for a three-match T20I series, starting Wednesday and Rohit said Karthik and Pant’s inclusion in the playing xi will depend upon the situation.

“I don’t know what we’re gonna do against South Africa. We just need to go and see their bowling, what sort of bowling lineup they’ll play with, and who are the best guys for us who can handle that bowling lineup. It all depends on that.

“We want to be flexible in our batting. So if the situation or if the thing demands that we need a left-hander, we will bring in a left-hander if we need a right-hander, we will continue to do that.

“But we’ll try and manage those guys pretty carefully. I do understand that they need game time before the World Cup but there are only 11 players you can play, unfortunately.”