India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said Virender Sehwag was `rested' to give Rohit Sharma an opportunity in the first ODI of the triangular series here on Sunday.
Dhoni explained, “If you want to make Rohit (Sharma) play, then an experienced player can come and go out of the side. But it may be hard for Rohit to come in later if he does not get going before the later stages of the tournament. You could find him playing in tougher second half without much practice. It’s a long series and we want to win it.”
Left-arm paceman Zaheer Khan, he revealed, had a minor fitness concern. “Zaheer has a niggle in the knee, but he should be fit for the later games,” he said.
Dhoni conceded that the spinners disappointed on the big ground. “The execution of our plan was not good. It’s a worry if Jadeja doesn’t bowl well. The balance of the side is affected. You also need someone who can bat at number seven.”
The Indian captain added leg-spinner Rahul Sharma did a fair job. “He did not get consistently hit like the others, and there were quite a few runs he conceded off the edges.”
Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, he pointed, was a good bowler who had still not got used to the Australian conditions.
On not playing an additional paceman, Dhoni said, “We expected rain but thought we would lose only five to six overs. We did not think we would lose 18 overs in an innings. It affects your strategy since you have only three overs remaining for the pacemen.”
Asked about replacing the experienced Brad Haddin as the wicket-keeper batsman, Man-of-the-Match Matthew Wade said, “I want to live in the present moment, and am not looking too far ahead. I am happy with my game.”
To make the occasion more special, this was Wade's ODI debut.