Test cricket is not played over 2-3 days – Rohit Sharma after India’s rampant win against England

Team India posted a rippling display in all the departments on Day 4 to overwhelmingly beat England as they surged up 2-1 from a 1-0 deficit in the ongoing Test series. Yashasvi Jaiswal came back to bat and stayed unbeaten for 214 while he had the perfect support from Shubman Gill (91) and Sarfaraz Khan (68).

Indian captain Rohit Sharma was delighted with his individual brilliance in the first innings and also expressed his glee about the teamwork that saw the hosts dishing out a superlative showdown. Talking at the post-match presentation, Rohit highlighted the minute details while also heaping praises on individual brilliance.

Revealing his message to the team after Day 2 where England still had an upper hand, thanks to a brilliant knock by Ben Duckett, Rohit said, “When you are playing Test cricket, it is not played over 2-3 days. We do understand the importance of playing over 5 days. They played well and put us under pressure. We have got class in our bowling, the message was to stay calm and I'm really proud of how we came back the next day. When those things happen, it's a delight.”

He then shed some light on the promotion of Ravindra Jadeja in the batting order, stating, “For this game, we thought he has got so much experience and has got a lot of runs as well, we wanted that left-right combo, Sarfaraz with the quality he has got, we wanted him to have time. We saw what he can do with the bat.”

Rohit also talked about the batting order of the team, adding, “It's not a long-term view, we go with the flow and what we feel on that particular day, looking at the opposition, the bowling attack. We calculate everything and then go with the flow.”

Highlighting the match in a nutshell, the captain said, “Lots of turning points, was a good toss to win, we know how important in India it is to win the toss, the way we came back and bowled after that onslaught. The bowlers showed a lot of character, not to forget we did not have our most experienced bowler as well. With the bat we knew the job was half-done, those two youngsters got us the lead we wanted and obviously Jadeja with the ball in the 2nd innings was superb.”

He concluded by talking about the double-centurion Jaiswal, adding, “I have spoken a lot about him, in Vizag as well, people outside the changeroom have spoken as well. I don't want to talk too much about him, he has started his career on a high, I want him to continue doing well, yeah looks like a good player.”