India on Friday registered a thrilling 8-run win against the West Indies in the second T20 International at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. The win helped India take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
After the match, India captain Rohit Sharma hailed Bhuvneshwar Kumar's spell in the penultimate over and Virat Kohli's important knock.
"You are always a bit scared when you are playing against these guys (West Indies power hitters). In the end, it was a phenomenal finish. Right from the start, we knew it wouldn't be easy," Rohit said at the post-match presentation.
Defending 186/5, India were at the brink of defeat as the Windies reached 158/2 in the 18th over with Nicholas Pooran and Rovman Powell stitching a 100-run stand. Then the equation was 29 off 12. But Bhuvneshwar conceded four runs in the 19th and took the wicket of Pooran.
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"But I am proud we executed our plans under pressure. It was very critical at that point when Bhuvneshwar bowled. That's where experience comes into play. Bhuvi has been doing it for many years and we believe in him a lot," Rohit added.
Rohit has now won the back-to-back T20 series since becoming India's full-time captain. They have also blanked New Zealand 3-0 at home in November after the failed T20 World Cup campaign. And the skipper was also happy that his predecessor has finally found form. Kohli hit 52 off 41 as India fought back from a poor start after being put into bat by Kieron Pollard.
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Rishabh Pant, the player of the match, also hit 52 but off only 28 balls, and with Venkatesh Iyer (33 off 18), the wicket-keeper helped India finish with a flourish.
"The way Virat started he took the pressure off me as well. It was a very important innings. And great finish by Rishabh and Venky Iyer. To see that sort of maturity from Iyer is very pleasing. He looks confident and towards the end, he asked me if I wanted to give him an over," Rohit said.
But Rohit was "disappointed" with India's poor fielding. The dropped catches by Ravi Bishnoi and Bhuvneshwar Kumar were glaring but Indian players collectively failed to impress with their fielding efforts.
"We were a little sloppy in the field, a little disappointed with that. We could have done better if we had taken those catches. We want to try and minimise those mistakes moving forward," added Rohit.
Under Rohit, India have also won the preceding ODIs, 3-0. The third and final T20I match is scheduled for Sunday at the same venue.
