India skipper Rohit Sharma won’t remark on the mindset of the Australian side in the opening game of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy but didn’t expect them to get bowled out in just one session on the third day in Nagpur on Saturday.
India skipper Rohit Sharma won’t remark on the mindset of the Australian side in the opening game of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy but didn’t expect them to get bowled out in just one session on the third day in Nagpur on Saturday.
Australia suffered a bad defeat by an inning and 132 runs after being all out for just 91 in their second innings in the session between lunch and tea on the third day. “No, I didn’t,” is what Rohit said when asked if he expected the match to end well within three days.
“We were prepared to have a hard day’s bowling, spending session after session. We never thought they would get bowled out in a session. As you saw, the pitch became slower and slower and there was no bounce on the pitch, so it was a bit of a surprise for me,”
the Indian skipper said at the post-match press conference.
There was a lot of pre-match talk from the Australian media with one leading newspaper naming the Jamtha track as “systematically doctored” while the other named it “dodgy” even before a ball was bowled.
The Indian captain in his matchless way focused on it in when asked if he viewed his team to be mentally stronger than Australia.
“I don’t know the mental status of the Australian team. I can vouch for our team and we are the ones who want to play on pitches like these and not just from now, we have been playing on pitches like these for the last three-four years,”
the skipper said.
He continued with his sarcastic way of saying things.
“Because we have all grown up playing on pitches like these, so there is no talk about pitches anymore in the changing room,”
he said.
For the Indian skipper, preparation whether for a cricket match or in any part of life is key to progress.
“I give a lot of credit to training sessions in Civil Lines before we came here. We had four or five net sessions and prepared the kind of pitch we were supposed to get here.
“Whether going down the track or sweeping, reverse sweep, hitting over top, when you prepare well, you get confidence and not just in cricket but everywhere,”
he stated.
During the memorable series of 2021, India returned after being shot out for 36 in the first Test. An Australian scribe asked if their team can turn it around? “It’s a good question,” Rohit said smiling wryly.
“Australia is always a good team. A lot of guys who played in that series are not there for Australia also. Australia loves playing Test cricket and they take pride in representing the country and so we are quite aware of them bouncing back and what they can do as a team as well.
“We want to play the cricket we are playing and we would continue to do that in the three games that we have. As captain, I need to focus on what we have in Delhi and then move on from there,”
he added.