The Indian captain Rohit Sharma opens about the absence of Ravichandran Ashwin after day 02 and shared the experience of winning the third match of England’s tour of India 2024 with young players.
Rohit Sharma lauds India’s youngsters
Rohit Sharma led India to win the third test match against England in Rajkot and leads the series 2-1. After securing a 434-run difference victory, Rohit Sharma lauded the young players for securing the team’s biggest Test win in terms of runs.
While speaking after the game the Indian skipper Rohit Sharma said, “Obviously it’s a very good feeling to win a game like that, especially with such a young team as well.”
“(We had) two debutants (Sarfaraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel) and not a lot of Test matches amongst the playing eleven as well,” said Rohit.
“A lot of these guys are learning from the experience that they’re having in the middle. We got to learn a lot about how we played in Hyderabad and then in Vizag when we won.”
He said the side that the team has to work together and hard under these circumstances.
“We knew it’s not going to be an easy one for us to just come out here and win the series. We have (had) to work really, really hard, especially with a lot of our front-line players missing as well,” Rohit said.
“A lot of credit to these young boys who have come in and showed a lot of character. Looks like they belong here and they want to stay here as well,” he added.
Rohit said that he was surprised that the game ended on the fourth day itself.
“I thought the game would go on to the fifth day. We had only 40 overs to bowl today. We thought 130 overs to get them out would be quite comfortable for us. That’s probably (was) the reason,” he said.
“It was not more than the runs, it was more of how many overs we need to get them out. That was the decision that was taken. By no means do I expect that we’ll get over by this evening,” he added.
Rohit Sharma also spoke about Ravichandran Ashwin‘s absence which caused difficulty but praised the spinner for joining the team on day 04.
“When you lose your most experienced bowler, especially in the middle of the Test match, it’s not easy. But everything was (at a) side, family comes first,” Rohit said.
“When we heard the news, there was no second thought in our mind that he should do what he feels is right.”
“He wanted to be with the family, which is the right thing to do, and good on him to actually make a way and come here and be part of the team on this day as well,” he added.
“(It) shows the character and shows the kind of person he is, wanting to put everything ahead for the team,” Rohit said.
“I won’t say anything about Jaiswal now, everyone is talking about him. Let him play. He’s playing well and (that) is good for us. He’s in good form. I’m not going to say much more than that,” he said.
India will be playing their fourth test match against England on February 23 at JSCA International Stadium Complex.
