“Whatever the condition has to offer, we got to be ready for it” – Rohit Sharma

Team India had an easy outing in Chepauk as they rolled over Bangladesh without breaking a sweat. Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja claimed three wickets each in the first session of the fourth day to leave Bangladesh gasping. Rohit Sharma, the Indian captain, was delighted at the overall performance of his team. Talking at the post-match presentation, Sharma highlighted the exact situation of the surface, while heaping praises on his team’s incredible display in Chennai.

Shedding light about the build-up and the result of the game, Rohit said, “It was a great result looking at what lies ahead for us. We are playing after a long time, but you are never out of cricket. We came here a week before, we had a good lead up to the Test match and we got the result that we wanted.”

He then shifted his focus to Rishabh Pant, adding, “He's been through some really tough times. The way he has managed himself through those tough times was superb to watch. He came back in the IPL, followed by a very successful World Cup and this is the format he loves the most. For us, it was never about what he is going to do with the bat, we always knew what he had with the bat and with the gloves as well. It was just about giving him the game time. Credit to him as well, he went on to play Duleep Trophy and got ready for this Test match and had an impact straightaway in the game.”

Underscoring the conditions and what the plans were to contain the visitors, Sharma said, “No matter what the conditions are, whether we play in India, whether we play outside, we want to build the team around that (strong bowling). Whatever the condition has to offer, we got to be ready for it. In the last few years, wherever we have played, we have managed to have that in our armoury, whether it is seam bowling options or spin bowling options. You have to give credit to the guys, whenever there is a responsibility, they never shy away from it and they want to put their hand up and get the job done for the team. The red soil pitch always has something to offer. You need to have a little bit of patience as well. You don't see much happening straightaway. This was a pitch where we had to show a lot of patience whether we bat or bowl. We were patient enough with the bat to get those big runs and then with the ball as well we were patient enough to hit the right areas and put them under pressure consistently.”

Rohit concluded with a word of praise for Ravichandran Ashwin, stating, “He's next in line to talk to you, he's the right man to answer what he does. Every time we look up to him, he's always there for us whether with the bat or ball. I don't know if I speak here, it'll be enough of what he does for this team. Every time we see him come out and do the job, it's always so brilliant. He's never out of the game. The last competitive cricket he played was IPL and then he had some fun playing TNPL. We watched him bat up the order and that's what helped him as well to bat the way he did.”