Rohit Sharma. (Source – Disney Hotstar)
New Zealand ended India’s streak of 18 consecutive series wins at home in Test cricket. At Pune, both batting and bowling units failed to live up to the expectations and that resulted in a 113-run defeat. The batters particularly failed to cope against Mitchell Santner’s wrath, who picked up 13 wickets in the game and was adjudged as Player of the Match.
Despite the series loss and the end of the streak, India captain Rohit Sharma isn’t ready to dissect much and stated that he will be backing his players in these tough times. The 37-year-old mentioned that the cricketers are aware of their role and he just wants to keep things calm and make them feel comfortable for them to bounce back in the third Test at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
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“I am not going to overreact. You need to have a quiet chat about what they need to do. I am going to support the players who are going to play in Australia for the first time. Keep it calm and make them feel they belong here,” Rohit said.
Expecting Ashwin and Jadeja to perform everytime isn’t fair: Rohit
The duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja have been extremely instrumental for India at home. However, in the last two games, the duo hasn’t been very effective and that raised doubts about their impact and future. Rohit however wasn’t ready to entertain doubts over Ashwin and Jadeja and reminded how impactful they have been for India in the last few years.
“Every game they play, they are expected to help us win. That’s not fair. They know what they have done and what the expectations are. They both have had huge role in our run of 12 years. Sometimes they are allowed to have some bad games here and there. They aren’t going to run through the batting unit every time. It’s a collective unit. It has to be shared among everyone. Washington had a great game and we are proud of that,” Rohit said.