Cricket News : Rohit happy with ODI series win against England but agrees there is a lot to improve

Although Rohit Sharma isn't overly concerned just yet, he does believe that "we need to look into"the performance of India's top-order batsmen. Shikhar Dhawan recorded scores of 1, 9, and 31* in the three ODIs he played in England.

Whereas, Virat Kohli only amassed 46 runs overall, in addition to his 11 and 1 in the two T20Is. After scoring an undefeated 76 in a ten-wicket victory in the first ODI of the series, Rohit himself made scores of 0 and 17.

"We do understand that it is something we need to look into. To be honest, the wicket [at Old Trafford] didn't have much.";

Said the Indian skipper.

Rohit further added saying

"We played some not-so-good shots and that's what cost us wickets."

"But I still back those guys to come out good because they have done it for a long time."

"I've got nothing more to say since I understand the quality they bring to the team."

India was 29 for 3 in the second ODI, chasing 247 after winning the first by a canter. In a situation that was almost identical to Kohli's dismissal in the second ODI at Lord's, Dhawan was out driving to point on Sunday when Rohit nicked to slip and Kohli was caught behind.

They fell behind in their pursuit of 260 in the series-deciding match, falling to 38 for 3 by the ninth over.

India overcame that wobble on Sunday to win by five wickets thanks to a 133-run partnership for the fifth wicket between Hardik Pandya and Rishabh Pant, which was scored at more than a run per ball. When the winning runs were scored, Pant was undefeated on 125, his first ODI century, while Hardik had made 71.

India won the series 2-1 despite the dearth of runs at the top. Thanks to their middle order.

"Very pleased," Rohit said of the series outcome.
"We came here wanting to achieve something as a group in white-ball cricket, and I thought we achieved a fair bit. Obviously, moving forward there are a lot of things we need to improve as a group, but quite pleased with the effort from the boys in the entire white-ball leg."

"We were here last time, and we were beaten, I remember that. It is not an easy place to come and win games, but the way we played the entire white-ball leg was fantastic. It';s something we wanted to do for a long period of time, to finally come and achieve was a great effort from the entire unit."

Rohit was quite complimentary of Hardik, who made his ODI comeback as an all-rounder after more than a year. In addition to his performances with the bat, which included 29 in 44 balls and 71 in 55 balls, he finished with six wickets in three games, including a career-best 4 for 24 at Old Trafford on Sunday.

Yuzvendra Chahal received praise as well, highlighting his importance to India's white-ball aspirations once more after being excluded from the T20 World Cup the previous year. With seven wickets in three games and an economy rate of just 5.35, he finished the ODI series.