Rohit Sharma provides update on his injury that made him leave the field retired hurt against Ireland

Indian skipper Rohit Sharma scored a match-winning half-century in the T20 World Cup 2024 clash against Ireland at Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York. But Rohit could not finish off the run chase and left the field during the drinks break retired hurt. 
 

In the ninth over, Rohit was struck on the arm by left-arm pacer Joshua Little. The ball lobbed to point and Ireland fielders appealed. Paul Stirling opted for DRS but the decision was not reserved. After an attempt to scoop it to fine leg, Rohit hit two consecutive sixes. In the next over, he reached his half-century from 36 balls. In the run chase of 97, India were 76/1 at the halfway stage before Rohit left the field.
 

“Yeah, just a little sore,” Rohit said in the post-match presentation. 

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Rohit was unsure of how the pitch will behave and decided to field first. He credited the bowlers for putting Ireland under pressure early on.
 

“I said it at the toss as well. Quite unsure of what to expect from the pitch. Not aware on what it is to play like on a pitch that's five months old. I don't think the wicket settled down even when we batted second. There was enough for the bowlers. That's pretty much what you gotta do. Try to hit those lengths consistently. All these guys have played a lot of Test cricket. Arshdeep is the only guy who hasn't. His two wickets upfront set the tone for us,” he said. 

Four seamers instead of four spinners

The 36-year-old admitted that on these pitches, playing with four spinners won't be possible and there is a need to have all-rounders in the side. 
 

“Don't think we can play four spinners here (laughs). When we picked the team, we wanted to have the balance. If conditions are there for seamers, we wanted to have that. Spin will play a part later on. Today was a four-seamer pitch and we still managed to get two spinners who are allrounders. I don't know what to expect from the pitch to be honest,” he added. 
 

India beat Ireland by eight wickets with 7.4 overs to spare. They will face arch-rivals Pakistan in their next clash on June 9. 
 

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