IND VS WI: Rohit Sharma hails Prasidh Krishna's impact as India seal series

Rohit Sharma hailed Prasidh Krishna, who produced a match-winning spell to help India defeat West Indies in the second One-Day International (ODI) on Wednesday.

Prasidh finished with figures of 4 for 12 in his nine-over spell as Rohit-led India beat the visitors by 44 runs at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahemdabad. India secured an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match ODI series.

"Obviously winning the series is a good feeling. There were some challenges. The partnership between [KL] Rahul and Surya [Kumar Yadav] had a lot of maturity. We got to a respectable total in the end. We knew we could fight it out. The entire unit came out and bowled superbly. It is important for these guys to bat under pressure and that is how you will judge their character. Surya had to take his time and understand what the team wants from him. KL also batted superbly as he is consistently up and down in the order," Rohit said in the post-match presentation on Wednesday.

At 43 for 3, Surya walked in to join Rahul in the middle. The two brought back India's innings on the track with their stand of 91 runs for the fourth wicket. Rahul scored a 48-ball 49 before getting run out. Surya went on to register a half-century as he scored 64 off 83 balls, his second ODI fifty.

Surprising everyone, Rishabh Pant opened India's batting along with his skipper Rohit. While the India captain fell in the third over, Pant also didn't last long as he got out for 18 off 34 balls.

"I have been asked to try different things, so that was something different (on Pant opening). We wanted to try it one game and is not a permanent thing. Shikhar should be back for the next game. We don't mind losing a few games while trying out a few things; because it is important to look at the long term goals. We will see what works out well for the team combination (for the final ODI)," Rohit added in the same presentation interview.

Surya's half-century, along with Washington Sundar and Deepak Hooda's crucial scores in the 20s, helped India post a defendable target of 238.

In reply, West Indies openers Shai Hope and Brandon King put up 32 runs for the opening wicket before medium-pacer Prasidh removed the latter in the eighth over.

The other three victims of the Karnataka bowler were Darren Bravo, West Indies' stand-in skipper Nicholas Pooran and Kemar Roach.

"I was a little surprised to see no dew. I have never seen a spell like that in India for a long time now. Bowled with a lot of pace and kept it going. The others complemented him. When you have five bowlers and Deepak being sixth, you always need to keep rotating the bowlers," added Rohit.

The third ODI, which is a dead rubber now, is scheduled to be played on Friday (Feb. 11) in Ahmedabad. Following that, the teams are set to travel to Kolkata to play a three-match T20I series at the Eden Gardens.