"He's been through some tough times in the last couple of months" - Dinesh Karthik lauds skipper Rohit Sharma
Dinesh Karthik has lauded Team India skipper Rohit Sharma following the hosts' comprehensive 4-1 Test series victory over England.
The veteran keeper-batter mentioned that Rohit deserves a lot of credit for delivering despite having an inexperienced team, which included multiple debutants. Karthik also stated that the Indian captain struggled in the opening encounter at Hyderabad but successfully managed to stage a turnaround after the early setback.
Speaking about Rohit's leadership in the series, the cricketer-cum-commentator said during a discussion on Cricbuzz:
"You can say that white-ball comes to him a lot more naturally in terms of leading a side tactically, and he was found wanting in Hyderabad. But it's great to see him produce the result that he has with a young batting lineup and an experienced bowling lineup."
"It's been phenomenal to see how he's gone about things. It's not easy having so many debutants. About five debutants in the series, but still producing the result he produced, I think he should be very proud of himself. He's been through some tough times in the last couple of months, but it's great to see him come back with a bang, not only with the bat, but also as a captain," he added.
India beat England by an innings and 64 runs within three days in the recently concluded fifth and final Test in Dharamsala. Rohit Sharma made a significant impact with the bat in the rubber, chalking up 400 runs across nine innings at an average of 44.44.
"The health of Test cricket is in good hands" - Dinesh Karthik on BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar
Dinesh Karthik also praised BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar for roping in youngsters like Sarfaraz Khan, Akash Deep, Rajat Patidar, Dhruv Jurel and Devdutt Padikkal for the England Test series. He opined that Agarkar deserves a lot of credit for India's success.
Stating that the health of Test cricket seems to be in good hands, Karthik added:
"People go unnoticed in the background, and I think Ajit Agarkar's job is one like that where we'll always latch on to him when we don't do well, but when I think it needs to be given due credit when a team like this comes. A young team, picking Akash Deep, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, and all of them have done well. I think Ajit will be a very happy man, and most importantly, it does feel like the health of Test cricket is in good hands."
Indian opener Yashasvi Jaiswal was named the Player of the Series for his incredible batting exploits as he finished with 712 runs at an average of 89.