Kedar Jadhav hailed the performance of the Indian bowlers as they produced a splendid display to help India beat Afghanistan in a low scoring affair at the 2019 ICC World Cup on Saturday.
Batting first, India could manage 224 for eight and Afghanistan, for a period looked well set to chase down the target. But an inspired performance by Jasprit Bumrah and Mahammad Shami at the death tilted the game in India’s favour.
“We believe in our fast bowlers to do the job for us at the death,” said Jadhav addressing the post-match press conference. “It’s about how you come back after you are hit for four. And that’s what Shami did today. That’s when character comes into play.
“The pitch was slow so it was difficult to play shots. Our actual plan was 250, but we fell short. We knew we’d need to make up 20 or 30 runs in the field, so credit to the bowlers for defending this total,” he added.
Jadhav was also a valuable contributor with the bat as his 50 of 66 balls ensured that India crossed the 22-run mark. Coming into the bat at a crucial stage, Jadhav admitted that the pitch was as flat as it looked and it was time for the batsmen to get used to the pace and the bounce on offer. “When I went in to bat, I felt the wicket was not on the flatter side,” said Jadhav.
“The ball was not coming that easily onto the bat so we had to take our time. And they had two or three quality spinners. And that doesn’t help when the wicket is slow. I think we can definitely improve on this, but I don’t see any other team having three or four quality spinners.”
That feeling when you have belief in @Jaspritbumrah93 & @MdShami11 courtesy @JadhavKedar 💪💪 #TeamIndia #INDvAFG #CWC19 pic.twitter.com/LBwapJOj9o
— BCCI (@BCCI) June 22, 2019
Meanwhile, though the Afghan skipper Gulbadin Naib was disappointed that his side couldn’t chase down the required target, he was happy with the way the team bounced back after the humiliating defeat against England in the previous game. “At one point I thought we might be able to win easily, but in the end, we were all emotional inside,” said Naib.
“We’re upset because we had a chance for a victory which would be a big achievement for any team. Today we missed the opportunity to beat India. They are my favourite team and I support them when I am watching. Virat Kohli is my favourite player and it was great to play against him. But we came back strongly from our last game, which was important. Rashid had bowled pretty badly against England, and he came back well.”
Feature image courtesy: Twitter
