Asia Cup 2022: Rohit Sharma Tells Why Deepak Hooda Wasn't Given A Single Over Against Sri Lanka

After India's 6-wicket loss to Sri Lanka, Rohit Sharma was asked in the post-match presser about why he did not use sixth bowling option.

India's survival in Asia Cup depends on outcome of Pakistan vs Afghanistan match on Wednesday.  ( Image Source :Screengrab taken from Twitter )

India in Asia Cup 2022: Team India's all-format skipper Rohit Sharma was criticized for not using spin all-rounder Deepak Hooda as sixth bowling option in India's Super 4 match against Sri Lanka in Asia Cup 2022. Fans and cricket pundits slammed Rohit for not letting off-spin all-rounder Deepak Hooda bowl a single over against Sri Lanka. Team India have been virtually knocked out of Asia Cup 2022 after losing consecutive matches in Super-4s. India's survival in the tournament now depends on outcome of Pakistan vs Afghanistan Asia Cup match on Wednesday. 

After losing against Pakistan on Sunday, India lost its second Super-4 match against Sri Lanka in almost the same fashion. Batting first, India set a good 1st innings total, and later their bowlers could not defend it. India similarly scored a good 1st innings total against Sri Lanka, but later the bowlers leaked a lot of runs, with India ending up as the losing side.

India tried only five bowling options against Pakistan in the first match of Super 4. Something similar was done by them against Sri Lanka too. They lost both matches. Even in the second match, there was no bowler who gave less than 30 runs in his 4 overs.

After India's 6-wicket loss to Sri Lanka, Rohit was asked in the post-match presser about why he did not use sixth bowling option. He said," See, we have 6 bowling options but as I said we also have to try things with five bowlers as well. Today Deepak Hooda was there but Sri Lanka's two right-handers were set so I didn't think I could bring him on at that point because we were trying to get a breakthrough so I wanted our attacking spinners Ashwin and Chahal to bowl. If we had gotten a wicket early, I had planned to bowl Deepak Hooda."

"Six bowling options are always nice we know that and we have played with that combination. So when we go to the World Cup, that will be our thinking, to play with a combination which allows us to have six bowling options," Rohit added.