Rohit Sharma, the architect of India's nail-biting one-wicket win in the first ODI in Cuttack
Rohit Sharma, the architect of India's nail-biting one-wicket win in the first ODI in Cuttack, is eager to win the second ODI against West Indies today not only for the team but also for his mother Purnima, who hails from the port city.
Turning it up: Rohit Sharma in action during a practice session in
Vishakapatnam yesterday. Pic/AFP
Sharma said a win today would be a perfect gift for her. "Of course, that (win in second ODI) will be a gift (for her)," Sharma told reporters on the eve of the match. "Vizag has been always good for us. It's always been a belter of track as far as my knowledge goes. I've done really well whenever I've played here. Against Australia, we chased down 290 with five wickets to spare," added Sharma, who scored a brilliant match-winning 99-ball 72 in the last ODI.
The Indians will also be looking to maintain their 100 per cent win record at the Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium. "The wicket here is batsman-friendly. We will try to keep that record intact. We want to focus on our preparation and have to take it from there. We don't want to think too far ahead," Sharma said.
However, Sharma said it was a mistake to leave the task unfinished for the tailenders while chasing a modest 212 for victory in the last one-dayer. The Mumbaikar was disappointed to have failed to finish off the match as he departed with India 201-9, leaving the task to the last-wicket pair of Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron.
"I was disappointed for not finishing the game. Winning is more important than scoring in a losing cause. I never want to do stuff like this again," he said.
Sharma, however, was satisfied that his fifty came in a winning cause.u00a0 "It was not an easy situation to be in. They (West Indies) were bowling well. We wanted a partnership and when (Ravindra) Jadeja came in we just spoke about building small partnerships.
"We (Jadeja and me) shared about 80-90 runs of which was really crucial. When Jadeja got out, we needed one more small partnership (with R Vinay Kumar). With dew, we knew it was not going to be easy for the bowlers. We just decided on building partnerships and did well on that factor," Sharma said.
Winning streak continues
Incidentally, the win in Cuttack was India's 10th on the trot on home soil and Sharma said the hosts would like to carry on the winning streak. "Coming back to this game, we need to continue with the momentum, we just need to carry on. We have been preparing well. We just want to go out there and enjoy and keep winning the matches," Sharma concluded.
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