Dublin (Ireland): Ahead of the third and final T20I match against Ireland, India's head coach Sitanshu Kotak said on Tuesday that Indian bowlers Jasprit Bumrah and Prasidh Krishna are smart players and it never looked like they have got less game time.
India is set to play their third and final T20I match against Ireland on Tuesday in Dublin. India has already sealed the three-match series by 2-0 and will look for a whitewash.
Bumrah made his comeback in this series after almost a year-long break due to his back injury. While Prasidh recently recovered from a lumbar stress fracture.
In the pre-match press conference, Kotak said, "Bumrah and Prasidh are very smart, it never looked like they did not get the game or time to practice. So I do not think there is any pressure. These guys just need more and more game time and match practice. In this series, they will get two-three matches and in Asia Cup also they will get a few matches.”
When asked about his discussion with Tilak Varma, the Indian coach said that as Tilak was dismissed early in both the previous matches, he wanted to practice in nets and they discussed his shot selection and innings building.
“In the first match, he (Tilak Varma) got out in the first ball down the leg and in the last also he got dismissed, so, he just wanted to practice. In had a normal discussion about his shot selection. He was more talking about how to build his innings and go about the game,” Kotak added.
“Jitesh for the last 2-3 years, is playing a good role of finisher. So, we discussed with him how he will approach the innings if his batting comes early in the match," he added.
As India have already sealed the series, Kotak was asked if team India will give opportunities to the new players, he said, "This is a small series of three matches, so if we have to give the opportunity to someone then we also have to keep some players sit outside. It would be difficult to give a chance to a player in one match and then rest him for the next. In the evening, we will discuss it and then we will take the decision.”
The Indian head coach said on the support India's young batter Rinku Singh got from the crowd in the second T20I match.
“Crowd is looking for new players who are doing well, last time, the crowd was cheering for Sanju (Samson). Whoever performs well, the crowd take them up. Obviously, it was Rinku’s first match and he has done well in IPL, so the crowd must be looking for him, it is good for young players," he concluded. (ANI)
