Asia Cup 2018: Ajit Agarkar highlights Rohit Sharma and Dhawan's importance after the tied ODI

Team India, after a resounding victory over Pakistan, decided to give an opportunity to all the benched players in an inconsequential game against Afghanistan. The match went down the wire and ended in a tie as the team visibly missed their regular players especially in the chase of 253 runs. However, Ajit Agarkar didn’t forget to highlight the importance of the Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan to the team after the match stating that the team missed their presence.

While the new opening pair for the match, KL Rahul and Ambati Rayudu, also did extremely well adding 110 runs in 17.1 overs, they threw their wickets away by playing unnecessary shots after which the middle-order came under the pressure. The pitch got even slower and it became tougher to play the shots for the new batsmen. Afghanistan’s world-class spinners constantly applied pressure then and eventually the match tied.

That is the difference when they play

Ajit Agarkar, while speaking to ESPN Cricinfo, felt that Rahul and Rayudu should’ve continued for a bit more overs before going for flamboyant shots. The current Mumbai selector felt that this was the difference between the other openers and the dominant Rohit-Dhawan duo.

“Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma are the difference for the sudden fall. KL Rahul and Ambati Rayudu played well but one of them need to continue to secure the win. That is the difference between them to Rohit and Shikhar. When you are fighting for a place, you need to play and win the game for the team,” he said.

With the final set to be played against Bangladesh, India’s preferred XI will be on the park and there will be no let off in the intensity in the title clash from the Men in Blue. Though it will interesting to see if Rahul will manage to retain his place in the team after a scintillating half-century.

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