IND vs SL: 'I thought of bringing in Hooda': Rohit Sharma on his bowling options

Hooda was unutilized by the Indian team. (PC-Twitter)

After another disappointing loss in the Super four of the Asia Cup, India's all-format captain Rohit Sharma admitted that he missed a trick by not using Deepak Hooda with the ball in the middle overs.

On Tuesday (September 6), Sri Lanka produced an impressive run chase to thrash India by six wickets and leave their neighbours staring at an early exit from the ongoing Asia Cup 2022. For the second consecutive match in the tournament, India failed to defend the target with their bowling resources. 

Defending 174 against the Lankan Lions, the Indian skipper used just five bowlers, out of which three went at a rate of 8 runs per over and beyond, while Arshdeep Singh gave away in excess of 10 runs per over. Despite playing as a spin bowling all-rounder in place of Ravindra Jadeja, Hooda was not utilised by the Men in Blue, which has raised eyebrows regarding Rohit's captaincy.

Rohit decided against the idea of bowling Hooda

In the post-match talk, Rohit said that he thought of using Hooda's off-break skills and bringing him into the attack in the middle overs to use the big dimensions of the ground but decided against it as the two opposition right-handed openers of Sri Lanka batted too long to foil his plan.

"With the ball, it was a good effort to take it to the last over considering the start they had. The spinners bowled aggressively and got wickets in the middle overs, but Sri Lanka held their nerve. We thought with the bigger boundary we could use the spinners well. But the plan didn't work out. Their right-handers batted for very long. I thought of bringing in Hooda and using the longer boundaries. But I was happy with the three seamers."

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