"Unfortunately, I was not there to bring this news to them" - Rohit Sharma on Ravi Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja missing 1st Test of BGT 2024-25
Rohit Sharma was candid during his recent press conference ahead of the second Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. He shared his thoughts on Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin missing the opening Test, while also explaining how important the two are for the side.
The last time India played a Test without both Ashwin and Jadeja was at Gabba during the 2020-21 Border Gavaskar series. While they were benched in the recently concluded game in Perth, that wasn’t the case in Gabba as the duo missed out owing to respective injuries.
In the first Test of the ongoing series, Team India’s bowling unit consisted of just one spinner in Washington Sundar. The pitch favored the bowlers, who showcased their dominance in the game, eventually helping India take a 1-0 lead.
Speaking to reporters at the press conference ahead of the second Test, Rohit spoke about the spin-bowling duo missing out on the opening game. He said:
“Unfortunately, I was not there to bring this news to them, that they’re not playing the first game. But it is always hard to leave experienced players like Jadeja and Ashwin. It’s never easy. But I think the decision was made (keeping in mind) whatever was best for the team at that particular time and whatever the management felt at that particular time is the right thing to do we did that, and that is I think what, throughout the series, we will look to do. Whatever we feel at that particular time is the right thing to do, we’ll try and do that.”
India’s playing combination, going forward in the series, will depend on the match conditions, and Rohit Sharma was pretty clear about it.
“I certainly see them playing a huge role in the rest of the series” – Rohit Sharma on Ashwin and Jadeja’s role in the team
Rohit Sharma, at the aforementioned press conference, further spoke about the experience that the two senior spinners bring to the side. While praising their contribution to the team over the years, the Indian skipper also talked about their potential return to the XI.
Rohit said:
“I certainly see them playing a huge role in the rest of the series because you know what they bring to the table will never be written off because they are quality players and they have whatever success Indian cricket has had over the past few years is largely because of these two guys as well. It’s important for us to realize certain grounds here will bring certain players in the game a lot more so we have to try and do that and whatever suits the team the best, we will try and make those decisions based on what we see in front of us.”
India and Australia will square off in the second Test of the five-match series, a pink-ball Test, at the Adelaide Oval on Friday, December 6.