“Arre! World Cup jeetne ke baad phodo, yaar.” (“Burst these firecrackers after winning the World Cup!”)
That event occurred to be the Asia Cup, too, in Dubai, the place Rohit had been standing in for a rested Virat Kohli. This one, although, was totally different, not least as a result of the following few months might outline Rohit’s captaincy legacy.
India had numerous niggling questions main into the event. Unlike in 2018, when MS Dhoni was the entire and soul behind the stumps, India did not fairly know who their first-choice wicketkeeper was till every week earlier than the event with doubts nonetheless hovering over KL Rahul’s health. Then, he picked up a “different niggle” to the one he was in rehab for, and India needed to hand the gloves to Ishan Kishan for the primary two video games. They additionally had one other headache to resolve when Shreyas Iyer, additionally on his manner again from a protracted damage break following again surgical procedure, pulled up with again spasms.
“It’s so tough when you have to come back like that,” Rohit stated. “Five minutes before the toss, we told him he’s playing. An unfortunate incident happened [Iyer’s back spasm] and KL had to come in and play. To get a hundred like that shows the quality of the player, how mentally he’s ready for the challenge. We want players to stand up in big moments and in big pressure situations and a lot of the guys stood up.”
“His confidence has gone up over the last 1-1.5 years. Whenever he’s got the chance he’s bowled well. He’s brought the team back from tough situations, which is a good quality.”
Rohit Sharma on Kuldeep Yadav
Rohit was so mesmerised by Siraj’s work that he was tempted to maintain bowling him, till he was despatched a message by the coach.
“I was surprised with the pitch,” Rohit stated. “It was pleasing to watch from the slips. The guys were bowling quick, all three pacers [Jasprit Bumrah being the third] bent their back really well. Siraj got it to bend more than the other two guys. Every day everyone can’t be a hero, you’ll find new heroes everyday and today was Siraj’s day.
“We all complimented him and have been behind him when he was bowling that spell. He bowled seven overs which is loads. I wished to maintain bowling him, however I received a message from our coach that we have to cease him now. He was additionally fairly determined to bowl. That’s the character of any bowler or any batter once they see the chance, they wish to pounce on it.
Rohit glad to have confronted difficult pitches main into World Cup
Rohit felt the character of pitches within the Asia Cup supplied a great exercise main into the World Cup. At the toss he stated he would have batted too given the choice, however the resolution was taken away from him when Dasun Shanaka referred to as proper.
“Honestly I was a little surprised at how much the wicket did,” Rohit stated. “Because we didn’t expect the wicket to do that much. That’s been the nature of this ground [R Premadasa Stadium], you have to be prepared for unexpected things. Those are the challenges you come across as sportsmen. In conditions like this you don’t know exactly what the right score is, what the winning score is.
“Siraj has to be specially mentioned here, when the pitch is looking that dry, to get the ball to move around like that is a special skillset. I hope he continues that for a little longer, at the same time we just need to look after all the bowlers, make sure they’re fresh, and keep them ready for the games in front of us now.”
Rohit on Kuldeep Yadav: ‘He’s introduced the workforce again from robust conditions’
Shashank Kishore is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
Source web site: www.espncricinfo.com
.jpg)
