India beat New Zealand by 35 runs in a closely fought contest in the fifth and final ODI of the series on Sunday. With this win, India wrapped up the series with a convincing scoreline of 4-1. Speaking at the post-match press conference, stand-in skipper Rohit Sharma revealed that he chose to bat first as his side wanted to bat in tough conditions as a part of their preparation for the upcoming World Cup. His decision backfired initially as India were reeling at 18/4 put ultimately paid dividends as India won by 35 runs. "I had a look (of the pitch) before the toss and knew that there was moisture, which would be helpful for the fast bowlers initially. As a team we wanted to see how we face the challenges because come the World Cup we will be put into those situations, so what then," Rohit said at the post-match conference. "Yes, we lost four wickets upfront, there is learning there for us as how we should bat when the ball is swinging and conditions are not easy. The guys now know come the situation how to do it. The run rate was not great in first 30 overs but we still managed to get to 250, which is a big positive," he added. Describing the series win as a massive achievement, Sharma said, "Coming here and beating New Zealand 4-1 is a massive achievement. They play very good cricket, so it is a great take away for us. Last time we were thrashed 4-0. We didn't have a point to prove but we just wanted to play good cricket, which we have been doing for the past 8-10 months now." "New Zealand have got great balance. They bat deep and have a quality bowling line-up, we saw a bit of glimpse of that in last game where they challenged us, so for us 4-1 is a great achievement," he added. Applauding Ambati Rayudu for his brilliant innings of 90, Rohit said that it will boost his confidence ahead of the World Cup. "It would be a massive confidence boost for him (Rayudu) to bat in that situation. At 18 for 4, you need to bail the team out. He has been around for many years and he used his experience well. He is looking very good and I just want him to continue. We have five more games against Australia back home, so if he bats the way he batted, it would be good for us," he said. "I won't be able to comment who would bat at No. 4 in the World Cup but talking about the series, he can take a lot of confidence from the series, he finished off games for us," he explained. On the decision to field two fast-bowling all-rounders in Hardik Pandya and Vijay Shankar Rohit said that the think tank wanted to try out as many combinations possible ahead of the World Cup. "We want to be very well prepared for the World Cup, so we wanted to try out all our combinations. If the series was on line, we would have played with two spinners and three seamers and Kedar being there, but with the series won, we wanted to try out combination," he said. "Because we will be playing nine games in World Cup, and anything can happen, injuries, being out of form, so we wanted to try our every combination." Rohit also said that for young prodigy Shubman Gill the two matches would serve as an important lesson. "He is a real good talent, with just two odd games, you can't judge. This will give him a lot of learning. He is a top order batsman, he will be in those type of situations where ball is swinging around, so it will help him. He has done well and I don't find any reason why he can't play longer for India," Sharma concluded.
