"Team have almost ticked every box in both matches so far": Indian skipper Rohit

After halfcenturies from opener Yashasvi Jaiswal and allrounder Shivam Dube guided India to beat Afghanistan by six wickets and seal the series here captain Rohit Sharma said his team have almost ticked every box in both matches so farAt the Holkar Stadium on Sunday evening Rohit fell for a golden duck in the opening over of Indiarsquos chase of 173 But knocks of 68 off 34 balls from Jaiswal his fourth T20I fifty and an unbeaten 63 off 32 balls from Dube his second successive halfcentury apart from a 92run stand between the duo helped India chase down the target with 26 balls to spareAlso Read lsquoLeaving the ball bores me says Shreyas IyerClear message to everyoneldquoWe 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 wersquove ticked a lot of boxesldquoTheyrsquove 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 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 usrdquo said RohitAlso Read Ranji Trophy Mumbai secures 10wicket win over Andhra PradeshIt was also Rohitrsquos 150th T20I game and though he fell for a second successive duck the righthanded batter was pleased over reaching a significant milestone ldquoIt is a great feeling it has been a long journey starting way back in 2007 Irsquove cherished every moment I have spent hererdquo he saidWith the ball leftarm spinner Axar Patel led the charge with figures of 217 while Arshdeep Singh picked three wickets to bowl out Afghanistan for 172 despite Gulbadin Naibrsquos 57 The performance was good enough for Axar to pick the Player of the Match award He credited change in pace and sticking to his plans as his mantra for success in T20I bowling200 T20 wickets for AxarldquoIt 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 wonrsquot remember how many wickets I took 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 powerplayldquoYou need to be mentally prepared as a bowler in T20 cricket Ready to concede a six because that same ball could get you a wicket on another day Earlier I used to vary my plans if a batter was hitting me but now I stick to my plans and make the batters take the chance against merdquoAfghanistan skipper Ibrahim Zadran was all praise for Naibrsquos performance though he rued the inconsistency of his team in various phases of the game ldquoWe were quite short We had a good start in the Powerplay Sometimes we play well in the Powerplay sometimes in the middle overs and sometimes in the death overs ldquoWe are going for the T20 World Cup so we donrsquot want to repeat these mistakes Gulbadin is the most senior guy in the team we trust him and when he played a few shots in the powerplay we wanted him to take that momentum throughout the inningsrdquoThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever