Rohit open to India’s full-time captaincy after Asia Cup win

DUBAI: India’s Rohit Sharma, whose side retained the Asia Cup with a three-wicket win off the last ball against a fighting Bangladesh on Friday, has expressed his willingness to lead the team in future.

The Asia Cup victory has added further credibility to Rohit’s leadership skills. Under him, India have now won four limited-overs series – a T20I series against Sri Lanka in December last year, followed by ODIs against the same opponent, the Nidahas Trophy in March and now the Asia Cup.

His blemish-free record makes Rohit a strong candidate in the absence of Virat Kohli, and the Indian opener made it clear that he is more than willing to take up the role full-time provided an opportunity comes knocking.

“We have just won so I will surely be ready (for captaincy). Whenever the opportunity comes, I will be ready,” Rohit told reporters after the match.

“It’s a challenge for any team when few of your senior players are rested. Obviously, they will make a comeback and few of the guys will have to miss out,” he said.

Rohit weighed in on his captaincy, mentioning that his main motive is to give players willing to fight for a place in the team enough chances.

“When we came here, I wanted to give them the assurance that they will be playing all games. That’s how you make players,” said Rohit.

He added that a major chunk of his captaincy is inspired by former captain MS Dhoni.

“We are always learning from Dhoni. Whenever we face any difficulty on the field or have any questions, he’s always there to guide us,” he said.

At the Dubai stadium, India made heavy weather of a modest 223-run target as Bangladesh fought for every run before the title holders achieved victory off the last ball watched by a capacity 25,000 holiday crowd.

Score Board

India won toss

Bangladesh

Liton Das st Dhoni b Yadav 121

Mehidy Hasan c Rayudu b Jadhav 32

Imarul Kayes lbw b Chahal 2

†Mushfiqur Rahim c Bumrah b Jadhav 5

Mohammad Mithun run out 2

Mahmudullah Riyad c Bumrah b Yadav 4

Soumya Sarkar run out 33

*Mashrafe Mortaza st Dhoni b Yadav 7

Nazmul Islam run out 7

Mustafizur Rahman not out 2

Rubel Hossain b Bumrah 0

Extras (lb 2, w 5) 7

Total (all out, 48.3 overs) 222

Fall: 1-120, 2-128, 3-137, 4-139, 5-151, 6-188, 7-196, 8-213, 9-222; 10-222

Bowling: Kumar 7-0-33-0 (1w); Bumrah 8.3-0-39-1 (2w); Chahal 8-1-31-1 (1w); Yadav 10-0-45-3; Jadeja 6-0-31-0; Jadhav 9-0-41-2 (1w)

India

*R Sharma c Islam b Rubel 48

S Dhawan c Sarkar b Islam 15

A Rayudu c Rahim b Mortaza 2

D Karthik lbw b Riyad 37

†M Dhoni c Rahim b Mustafiz 36

K Jadhav not out 23

R Jadeja c Rahim b Rubel 23

B Kumar c Rahim b Mustafiz 21

K Yadav not out 5

Extras (b 1, lb 7, w 5) 13

Total (7 wickets, 50 overs) 223

Did not bat: J Bumrah, Y Chahal

Fall: 1-35, 2-46, 3-83, 4-137, 5-160, 6-212, 7-214

Bowling: Mehidy 4-0-27-0; Mustafiz 10-0-38-2; Islam 10-0-56-1; Mortaza 10-0-35-1 (2w); Rubel 10-2-26-2, (1w); Riyad 6-0-33-1 (2w)

Result: India won by 3 wickets

Man of the Match: Liton Das (Bangladesh)

Man of the Series: Shikhar Dhawan (India)

Umpires: Marais Erasmus (South Africa) and Ruchira Palliyaguruge (Sri Lanka). TV umpire: Rod Tucker (Australia). Match referee: David Boon (Australia)