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Team India skipper Shubman Gill has defended the former captain and opening batter Rohit Sharma, who had a poor three-match series against New Zealand as India suffered a 1-2 loss at home.
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Speaking after the series loss to the BlackCaps, Gill has asserted that Rohit has been in terrific form since the Australia ODI series Down Under, adding that the veteran failed to convert his good starts in the just-concluded New Zealand series.
"I think Rohit Sharma is in terrific form, even right through from the Australia series, even in the South Africa series. I think, as I said, you won't always be able to convert the starts that you get. And I think Rohit got some starts in this New Zealand series as well. As a batsman, you always want to convert those starts and always want to make it count and make it into hundreds. But it's not possible to do it every time. But at the same time, that's something that you always strive to do," Gill said after losing the series.
In the third ODI, Sharma had a poor outing with the bat, scoring only 11 runs off 13 balls with two fours, while chasing an imposing target of 338 runs. In the three-match series, the star opener managed to score only 61 runs at an average of 20.33.
Delving into the details of the third ODI, New Zealand was tasked to bat first after losing the toss. Daryl Mitchell (137) and Glenn Phillips (106) were the star players with the willow as New Zealand posted 337/8 in 50 overs. Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana scalped three wickets apiece.
In the chase, India managed to score 296 runs in 46 overs before getting bundled out. Virat Kohli (124), Nitish Reddy (53) and Harshit Rana (52) were the top batters, but they failed to take India over the line. Zakary Foulkes and Kristian Clarke scalped three wickets apiece.
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