"Just a little sore": Rohit Sharma on his injury following India's win against Ireland in T20 WC 2024

New York [US], June 6 (ANI): After winning their T20 World Cup 2024 opener against Ireland by eight wickets on Wednesday, India skipper Rohit Sharma gave an update on his injury, saying that his hand is just a little sore.
A half-century by skipper Rohit Sharma, fine finishing by Rishabh Pant and scorching spells by Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah were the highlights as India started their ICC T20 World Cup campaign on a winning note by thrashing Ireland by eight wickets at Nassau County Stadium in New York on Wednesday.
The wicketkeeper-batter Pant's bat produced the winning shot in the end which came on the second ball of the 13th over.
The opener spoke about left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh. The opener said that Arsdeep's two wickets upfront set the tone for the Men in Blue.
The India skipper achieved the milestone against Ireland in the T20 World Cup 2024 when he scored 52 runs from 37 runs at a strike rate of 140.54. He slammed 4 fours and 3 sixes in New York on Wednesday, however, his knock was cut short after he suffered an injury and had to leave the crease after the end of the 10th over.
"Yeah, just a little sore (the arm). I said it at the toss as well. Quite unsure of what to expect from the pitch. I'm not aware of what it's like to play 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 have to 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. I don't think we can play four spinners here (laughs). When we picked the team, we wanted to have balance. If conditions are there for seamers, we wanted to have that," Rohit said in the post match presentation.
The 37-year-old cricketer further said that the game against Pakistan is going to be a kind of game where the full team has to contribute.
"Spin will play a part later on. Today was a four-seamer pitch and we still managed to get two spinners who are all-rounders. I don't know what to expect from the pitch, to be honest. We will prepare as if the conditions are going to be like this (for the Pakistan game). This is going to be a kind of game where all XI of us will need to contribute. It was scratchy, but good to spend some time in the middle and understand what kind of shots to play there," the right-hand batter added.
Coming to the match, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to field first. The Indian bowlers put pressure on Irish batters from the start and had them struggling at 50/8. Some fightback from Gerath Delany (26 in 14 balls, with two fours and two sixes) and Joshua Little (14 in 13 balls, with two fours) helped Ireland push the total to 96 in 16 overs.
Hardik Pandya (3/27), Arshdeep Singh (2/35), Jasprit Bumrah (2/6), Mohammed Siraj (1/13) and Axar Patel (1/3) put up fine bowling performances.
During the run-chase of 97 runs, a half-century from skipper Rohit Sharma (52 in 37 balls, with four boundaries and three sixes) and a supportive knock by Rishabh Pant (36* in 26 balls, with three fours and two sixes) helped India secure an eight-wicket win. (ANI)