On Thursday, India Dominated England with a ten-wicket win in the third Test at the Narendra Modi Stadium. In the end, English skipper Joe Root winning the toss and batting first meant nothing as the visitors were completely outplayed in the game. Find Rohit Sharma words about India won the match.
India were bundled out for 145 in the first innings. Rohit Sharma was the top-scorer for the hosts as he played a knock of 66 runs which included 11 fours. Rohit Sharma, on Thursday, said that most batsmen from both teams got out on straight balls and the pitch had very less to do with that.
Rohit Sharma Explained His Intent Was Not To Defend, But Score Runs
“To be honest, I did not do anything different, when you are playing on a pitch like that, you need to have intent and you need to look to score runs. You just cannot keep blocking. The oddball might turn, the oddball might just skid on the stumps if you play for the turn. It is important to keep that intent and try to use your feet and try to do as many things as possible to try and stay ahead of the bowlers. You just need to be slightly ahead of the bowlers at times and it is about finding ways to score runs,” said Rohit during a virtual press conference on Thursday
“All I was trying to do was to look for ways to score runs. My intent was not to survive, I intended to score runs while respecting the good balls. That’s all I tried to do. The pitch was interesting, the oddball was coming in and some were turning. When you bat on a wicket like this, you need to have a clear mindset. Pitch didn’t do anything, honestly speaking, if I can recollect, most of the batsmen got out on straighter deliveries, we also as a batting unit, made a lot of mistakes while batting. We also did not bat well in the first innings, the pitch did not have demons, there is nothing like that,” he added.
Further elaborating on his point, Rohit said: “It was a nice pitch to bat on, once you are in, you can score runs as you saw. You just need to apply yourself and keep concentrating to score runs. If you look at the Chennai Test match, the second Test, it was turning hell of a lot than it did here. A lot of the batters got runs there in the second Test, in this Test, we need to be honest to ourselves and accept that we did not bat well.”
Chasing 49 for a win, India raced home with 10 wickets in the bag as Rohit Sharma (25*) and Shubman Gill (15*) looked in a hurry to finish proceedings. Rohit finished it off in style by sending Root into the mid-wicket stands. The win has taken India one step closer to the final of the World Test Championship.
