Indian captain Rohit Sharma was raging in confidence not just in the 3rd Test with his 1st innings batting but also during the press conference that followed right after India’s biggest-ever win in a Test match by 434 runs against England yesterday on day 4 of the 3rd Test in Rajkot. His belief was such that he claimed his Indian side was capable of winning matches on any type of pitch, be it a slow-raging turner or a fast-bouncy track.
Rohit Sharma along with the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ravindra Jadeja, and Sarfaraz Khan were the star performers in a Rajkot track that was tailor-made for batting. But it was also a surface that looked to favor only the Indian batters, not the English batting line-up.
While Jadeja walked out of his hometown ground with the man of the match award for his 112 in the 1st innings and 5-wicket haul in the 4th, India could not have posed this dominance if it wasn’t for the Indian skipper himself. Not only was he terrific with the bat but also very good with his tactics in the field.
In the 1st innings after India lost Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, and Rajat Patidar cheaply and were reduced to 33/3, it was Rohit Sharma who laid the foundation of a comeback, ensuring that his side did not fall behind only in the first morning of the Test match. He stood for a 204-run partnership with Jadeja and departed from the middle after scoring a fantastic and crucial 132.
While speaking about the pitch, Rohit stated that spinning tracks remain their main strength, claiming that they will continue to prove their dominance on such tracks in the future as well.
“We have won a lot of matches on such wickets before. The turning tracks and on pitches where the ball turns remain our strength. It gives us balance. We have given results for many years and we will get results in the future as well,” Rohit Sharma told the press in Rajkot.
“The curators decide and make the pitch”, Rohit Sharma ends speculation regarding creating favorable pitches
Rohit Sharma would then mention their victory in the 2nd Test at South Africa last month on a bouncy and unpredictable track that was eventually rated as unsatisfactory by the ICC. He claimed that they have no control whatsoever in the making of pitches, believing they have the strength to play in all types of tracks and get results in their favor.
“We don’t have control over certain things – we don’t discuss whether we want rank turners or not. We come here two days before the match and how much can we do anyway in two days? The curators decide and make the pitch. We have the strength to play on any wicket and win on it. When we won the Test in South Africa, everyone knows what kind of wicket it was,” Rohit concluded.
Meanwhile, the 4th Test which will give India a chance to triple their lead, starts from 23rd February onwards at the JSCA stadium in Ranchi.