Rohit Sharma reacts to Pant-Pandya partnership and India's top-order woes

Rohit Sharma enjoyed great success as a captain in the recently concluded ODI series against England. India held their nerves in the decider, courtesy of a brilliant partnership between Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya. The Men in Blue claimed the three-match ODI series, 2-1.

Sharma was delighted to see the maturity with which Pandya and Pant guided India past the finishing line. The duo put on a 133-run stand for the fifth wicket after the visitors were pushed on the backfoot in a 260-run chase. 

What did Rohit Sharma make of Pant and Pandya’s partnership?

The Indian skipper pointed out that the fearless duo did not panic during the chase and went about the chase pretty smartly, keeping the scoreboard ticking and putting the bad balls away.

“A lot of these guys haven't batted a long period in the middle overs, and we got to see that from Rishabh and Hardik. Both of them were clinical with the bat - at no point did we feel they were panicking. They backed themselves, played great cricketing shots, which was good to see,” said Rohit Sharma to ESPN Cricinfo.

“It is something we need to look into,” Rohit Sharma on top-order failures

Barring Rohit Sharma’s unbeaten 76 in the first ODI, India’s star-studded top order has failed to perform in the last two fixtures. Shikhar Dhawan ended the series with scores of 1, 9 and 31*, whereas, Virat Kohli averaged just 15.33.

"Not really," Rohit on asked if it was a concern. "But we do understand that it is something we need to look into. To be honest, the wicket [at Old Trafford] didn't have much. We played some not-so-good shots and that's what cost us wickets,” said Rohit.

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