Bengaluru, Jan 17 (PTI) India captain Rohit Sharma on Wednesday said his team needed someone like a Rinku Singh in the backend of the innings and the southpaw is doing what is expected of him.

In his fledgling international career, Rinku has made an impact and smashed an unbeaten 69 off 39 balls in the elite company of Rohit Sharma to bail India out of trouble.

“The last couple of series that he played, he showed what he can do with the bat. Very calm and knows his strength pretty well. He is coming off age and doing what is expected of him and he has done really well for India.

“It augurs well for the team moving forward, wanted someone like that at the backend and we know what he has done in the IPL and he has carried that to the Indian colours as well,” said Rohit, who himself scored a memorable 121 not out off 69 balls.

It took two superovers to force a result in the third T20I as India wrapped up the series 3-0.

Talking about the dramatic finish, Rohit said: “I don’t remember when was the last time this happened. I think I batted 3 times in one of the IPL games.

“Creating the partnership was important and we (Rinku and I) kept talking to each other to not lose that intent in big games and it was a good game for us to be in, the pressure was there and was important to bat long and deep and not compromise on the intent we want to show.” Afghanistan skipper Ibrahim Zadran was pleased with his team’s effort on the night.

“We are happy with the overall performance. We played good cricket, unfortunately we lost in the superover. We got lots of positives from this series and this experience will help us in the upcoming T20 World Cup.

“The boys gave their best in these 3 games. We never played this kind of cricket in T20, especially against India and in batting department as well. We will take some positives from this series and focus on improving a little bit in the T20 World Cup,” said Zadran.

Source: PTI News