India vs Afghanistan: Rohit Sharma hails 'great talent' Yashasvi Jaiswal and 'powerful' Shivam Dube after 2nd T20I win

India skipper Rohit Sharma was all praise for Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shivam Dube following their match-winning heroics in the second T20I against Afghanistan in Indore on Sunday. Jaiswal (68) and Dube (63*) forged a 92-run stand off just 42 deliveries for the third wicket to help India cross the finish line and seal the series with a game to spare.

This was Jaiswal’s fourth T20I fifty and Dube’s third. Dube had also scored a math-winning fifty in Mohali three days back.

“They’ve had a great couple of years, Jaiswal has played Test cricket now and even T20I. He has shown what he is capable of. He has the talent and has a great range of shots,” Rohit said on Jaiswal.

IND vs AFG: Rohit Sharma’s unique feat and other statistics from 2nd T20I

Rohit also had words of appreciation for “big guy” Shivam Dube. “Dube is a big guy, very powerful and can take on the spinners. That is his role and he has come out and played two crucial innings for us,” said the 36-year-old.

Rohit added that the Men in Blue could be proud of their performance on Sunday. “We have been clear with what we wanted to do, very clear message to everyone and when you see a performance like that, you can be really proud. One thing is talking about it, but to actually go there and play that way is a proud feeling. The last two games, we’ve ticked a lot of boxes,” opined the Mumbai cricketer.

‘I have the confidence to bowl at all times’

Axar Patel’s stupendous spell of 2/17 from four overs earned him the Player of the Match award. Axar, who removed skipper Ibrahim Zadran and Gulbadin Naib, feels that he’s grown as a bowler with confidence.

“I have been trying to bowl a bit slower, vary my lengths and now I have been to gauge these things better. Now I have the confidence to bowl at all times, even in the powerplay. You need to be mentally prepared as a bowler in T20 cricket,” the all-rounder said.

Axar, who got to the milestone of 200 wickets in T20 cricket, is only aiming to do well rather than thinking about the numbers. “Feels good, I just realised that I have got 200 T20 wickets. But what is important to keep doing well for India, honestly a few years later I won’t remember how many wickets I took,” added the 29-year-old.

The third and final T20I will be played at Bengaluru’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday (17 January).