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Xtra Time Web Desk : The Rohit Sharma era in Indian cricket started with a bang as the Men in Blue on Wednesday sealed a the 3 match ODI series against West Indies by building up an unassailable 2-0 lead, as they clinched a 44 run win in the 2nd ODI over their opponents who put up a decent fight, to say the least.

However, earlier in the day, the Indian team management surprised everyone by putting in Rishabh Pant to bat alongside skipper Rohit Sharma for the opening stand in the absence of regular opener Shikhar Dhawan. And after the match, the Team India captain himself spoke to the media about that surprising move.

In the post match presentation ceremony, the 34 year old said, "I have been asked to do different things, so this was different. People will be happy seeing Rishabh open then, but yeah it is not permanent. We will get Shikhar back next game, and he needs some game time. It is not always the results. We wanted to try it one game. We don't mind losing a few games 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."

India posted 237 for 9 and then returned to dismiss West Indies for 193 in 46 overs to record a comfortable 44-run victory.

Obviously winning the series is a good feeling. There were some challenges. The partnership between Rahul and Surya 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."

The Mumbaikar was awestruck by the sensational spell of Prasidh Krishna, who was adjudged Player of the Match for snapping four wickets for 12 just runs in his nine overs, which included three maidens.

"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," Rohit said.

"The others complimented him. When you have five bowlers and Deepak being sixth, you always need to keep rotating the bowlers."

Team India will now play the third and final ODI of the series on February 11 at Ahmedabad.

(News Courtesy : PTI)