England strolled to a convincing six-wicket win in the second One-Day International (ODI) against India in Pune to level the three-match series 1-1 on Friday.
Chasing 337 for the win, England batsman took Indian bowlers to the cleaners as Jonny Bairstow slammed his 11th century while Jason Roy (55) and Ben Stokes (99) hit half-centuries to take the visitors over the line with more than six overs to spare.
India missed an additional bowling option on a pitch that didn’t offer much to the bowlers and Virat Kohli’s decision to not bowling Hardik Pandya raised a few eyebrows.
After the match, the India captain revealed that he didn’t use Hardik with the ball during the game because the team management is keeping a close eye on the all-rounder’s workload and want him fit for big games coming ahead.
India will play the World Test Championship final in England and they will also feature in the T20 World Cup, scheduled to be held in India later this year.
“We need to manage his body as well going forward. We need to understand where we need his skillsets with the ball along with his batting. We used him in the T20Is but it’s a bit of workload management as well. We want to ensure we have Hardik Pandya fit and strong because he’s going to be an important part of the squad,” Kohli said at the post-match presentation.
Surjitt Sahani
