Carrara (Gold Coast), Nov 6 (PTI) All-rounder Shivam Dube said the total posted by India was good enough considering the ground dimensions and the bowlers executed their plans to perfection to beat Australia in the fourth T20I here on Thursday.
India defended a modest total with a stifling bowling performance for a 48-run win over Australia to take an unassailable 2-1 lead in the five-match series.
“167 on this ground is definitely a good score because the quality bowling we have, the spinners, the fast bowlers…I trust them and the whole team trust our bowlers,” Dube said at the post-match press conference.
“Definitely it’s a T20 game and any of the batter can come and smack but on this ground where the side boundaries are big, we had planned it very nicely and we had confidence that we can stop them.” He further elaborated India’s bowling plans, saying: “The plan was to bowl on the sides which have bigger boundaries because it is difficult to hit big, I think the boundaries were 80m plus.
“We knew it won’t be easy to hit how much you may connect. Plan was to bowl smartly and when a batter is set, force him to hit on the bigger sides than small sides.” He said chief coach Gautam Gambhir, bowling coach Morne Morkel and T20 skipper Suryakumar Yadav backed him a lot as a bowler, which gave him confidence.
“When I got the chance I knew that I had to bowl, especially Morne, Gauti bhai and Surya prepared a good plan for me.
“Morne also helped me a lot. He gave some small, small tips which made my bowling better,” he said.
Promoted up the order at the no.3 position, Dube also played a decent hand with the bat scoring 22 off 18.
“In nets I practised a lot on how to deal with short balls because the bounce is more here as compared to India. It’s my first tour but I am trying to get settle down as soon as possible.
“Definitely that was an important phase because at that time scoring got slow and I knew (Adam) is going to bowl. I never took chances against fast bowlers because they were bowling in direction of side boundaries.
“The plan was to rotate strike against fast bowlers and attack the spinners when they come,” Dube said. PTI SSC BS BS
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