Dubai [UAE], March 3 (ANI): After India’s 44-run victory over New Zealand in their final Group A match of the ICC Champions Trophy in Dubai, skipper Rohit Sharma said that the team management will decide if four spinners will play in the semi-final against Australia on Tuesday and a call will be taken on the bowling options after looking at the pitch and weather conditions.
India used four spinners in the game against the Kiwis. Rohit acknowledged the challenge of fitting four spinners into the playing XI.
“Look, the game just got over now. We really need to think, even if we want to play four spinners, how we can squeeze four spinners. If we don’t, then we don’t. Whatever works for us in terms of the bowling options, we will try and do that,” Rohit said in a pre-match press conference.
“The reason I say that is because the conditions here are – we are very much aware of the conditions, and we know exactly what works and what doesn’t work. So, we’ll just give it a day. We’ll think about it, what is the right combination to go with. But it is tempting,” he added.
Another significant factor heading into the semifinal is the fluctuating weather conditions in Dubai. While India has played all their matches at the same venue, Rohit pointed out that each game has presented different challenges due to variations in pitch behaviour and atmospheric conditions.
“Look, the three matches we played, the nature of the surface was the same. But in all three games, the pitch has behaved differently. We saw that when the bowlers were bowling, their ball was swinging a little. We didn’t see that in the first two games when our bowlers were bowling. And in the evening, it’s a little cold in the air. So, there are obviously a lot of chances of that swing. We know this,” Rohit explained.
“But the three games we played, there are four or five surfaces that are being used. So, every surface has a different nature. We don’t know which wicket will be played. The pitches look the same, but when you play on it, it’s played in a different way. So, you can’t go thinking that we played like this yesterday, and today we’ll play like this,” he added.
He said the pitch gives different challenges as a batsman.
“Every time, because of the different pitches, the pitch is giving you different challenges as a batsman. We have to think whether it’s necessary to play these shots or not. When the bowler is bowling, we saw a little spin today. We didn’t see that much spin in the last game. So, there are different things happening on every surface,” he said.
“Even for us, it is a little bit of a question mark as to which pitch is being played. Because there are four or five surfaces that are being used here. In the semi-final, we don’t know which pitch is going to be played. But whatever happens, we have to adapt and see what is happening. We will play on that. This is not our home, this is Dubai. So, we don’t play so many matches here. This is new for us too,” he concluded. (ANI)
