Rohit Sharma explains why new Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Shreyas Iyer left out for 1st T20 vs West Indies

Kolkata Knight Riders bought Shreyas Iyer at the IPL 2022 mega auction for Rs 12.25 crore last weekend.

Team India captain Rohit Sharma (right) with opening partner Ishan Kishan in the first T20 against West Indies in Kolkata. (Photo: ANI)

Young leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi’s ‘variations and skill-sets’ and his ability to bowl at any stage gives the team a lot of options to rotate the bowlers, said India skipper Rohit Sharma on Wednesday (February 16). The 21-year-old from Jodhpur made a dream debut for India, snapping two wickets for 17 runs in his full quota of four overs, a performance which earned him the Player of the Match Award in a six-wicket win over the West Indies in the first T20I here.

“Bishnoi is a very talented guy which is why we drafted him into the squad straightaway. We see something different in him. He’s got a lot of variations and skill-sets with him. He can bowl at any stage and it gives us a lot of options to rotate the other bowlers,” Rohit said at the post-match presentation. “Very happy with his first game for India and he's got a bright future and it's just about us now on how we use him.”

"Very happy with his first game for India. He has got a very bright future." #TeamIndia captain @ImRo45 lauds @bishnoi0056 following his superb performance on debut. #INDvWI @Paytm pic.twitter.com/YmxUF2JYrY

— BCCI (@BCCI) February 16, 2022

Rohit also tried to reach out to Shreyas Iyer, who couldn’t be accommodated in the playing XI despite being in good form. “Someone like Shreyas Iyer is sitting out, very hard on him not making it to playing XI, but we needed someone to bowl in the middle which is why we couldn’t get him in,” the skipper said.

“It’s always nice with that kind of competition going around and a lot of the guys are missing out as well. I’m happy to have that kind of challenges rather than not having players available and not in form. We were very clear with Shreyas and we told him we want that option going into the World Cup. Guys do understand what the team wants and all these guys are professionals and they do understand that team comes first.”

Iyer was appointed the new captain of Kolkata Knight Riders on Wednesday as well. KKR bought Iyer at the IPL 2022 mega auction for Rs 12.25 crore.

Chasing 158 to win, Rohit gave India a flying start with a 19-ball 40 but India lost a few quick wickets before Suryakumar Yadav (34 not out) and Venkatesh Iyer (24 not out) took them home. “Should have finished that off. We wanted to be a bit clinical in the end. We’re trying to do stuff in the middle. It didn’t work out, but happy with the win. We can take a lot of confidence.

“Restricting a great unit like that to 157 was a great effort by the bowlers. With the bat we were not clinical, but we can take learning.”

West Indies skipper Kieron Pollard admitted that they were 18-20 runs short. “Between overs 6-15 we only scored 46 in 9 overs and if we had 18-20 more runs during that phase it would have been competitive. After six overs they were in front, but I thought the bowlers and fielders did really well to pull things back,” he said.

“Different times call for different things, they have quality bowlers and we have to play it as we see it. The guys are working hard to get things right and again it's just a matter of setting it up properly. The ball was wet and the bowlers were bowling high full tosses and I wanted them to have a fair share to execute. Having said that, it was a very, very good game of cricket.”

India will take on the West Indies in the second T20I on Friday (February 18).

(with PTI inputs)