It was a proud moment for the Rohit Sharma-led Indian cricket team as it finished the five-match series against England by a 4-1 margin. India finished the final Test in less than three days with an innings win over the Ben Stokes-led visitors. Courtesy the win, India have consolidated their position in the World Test Championship points table. After the win, India have increased their lead at the top. They now have 68.51 point percentage (six wins in 9 games). England’s point percentage has reduced to 17.5. The other teams are where they were.
After the win Rohit Sharma made an interesting statement on his Test career in the last two to three years. Speaking to Dinesh Karthik, in a pre-recorded show, the Indian skipper opened up on retirement.
“I think if one day if I wake up and feel I’m not good enough, I’m not feeling good enough to play the sport. I’ll just talk it out and let them know about it. But honestly, I feel in the last two or three years my cricket has actually gone up and I’m playing the best cricket,” he said,” Rohit Sharma said on Jio Cinema.
“I’m not too much of a stat person who looks into numbers and all of that. Yes, scoring big runs, those numbers are important, but eventually there is a culture of playing cricket in this team that I was focusing on and I am still focusing on. I wanted to bring a certain change. You know, players going out there and playing with a lot of freedom. That statistical side of cricket, I want to take completely out of this team.
“People are not looking at numbers. People are not looking at their personal scores. Play the game. Numbers will take care of itself if you are playing well. If you’re fearless, If your mind is clean and clear, other things will take care of itself. But don’t look out. Go out there looking for ok, can I get a 50 here? can I get 100? Obviously all those numbers are good. It will happen. But just take that completely out of your mind and just focus on the game.”
Rohit Sharma said “One day, when I wake up and feel, I am not good enough then I will retire straightaway but in the last few years I am playing the best cricket of my life”. [JioCinema] pic.twitter.com/b6M7TN8mSn
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) March 9, 2024
Talking about the away Test series against South Africa, which India drew 1-1, Rohit Sharma said: “We usually lose the first Test and then we pick up in 2nd, 3rd, 4th Tests, so I was disappointed we played only 2 match Test series in South Africa”.
Rohit Sharma also praised the way the young side, despite the absence of seniors, stood up and delivered against England.
“When you win a Test like this, everything has to fall in place. At some stage people are gonna and people are gonna come and we know that. These guys are maybe short of experience, they have played a lot of cricket and I can stand here and see that these guys responded pretty well under pressure. The credit goes to the entire team and it was pleasing to see,” he said.
“When you win a series like this, we talk about scoring runs and 100s but it is important to take 20 wickets to win a Test. The way bowlers took responsibility was pleasing to see. It was over a period of time that we had a conversation (with Kuldeep), he’s got a lot of potential and when the chips were down in the 1st innings, he bowled really well and after his injury he came back and worked at NCA and he is putting a lot of effort and the most pleasing thing was his batting.
“He’s (talking about Jaiswal) got a long way to go, amazing to be in this position. When a guy’s got talent like that who can put pressure on the bowlers from the word go, there will be lots of challenges going forward. He is a tough guy and loves the challenges, clearly superb series for him and likes to score big.”
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