“Yesterday in South Africa, the game got over within 3 days” – Rohit Sharma bats for skillset amid raging ‘pitch talk’
Citing recent Test matches around the globe, skipper Rohit Sharma stressed that pitches don’t count for much if players can adapt. India lost a home Test after two years, as Australia conquered Indore by nine wickets inside three days.
In the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy, none of the three games thus far have moved to the fourth day. Rohit reasoned players’ inadequacies for Test matches not lasting five days. He spoke about South Africa’s win over the West Indies last night to cushion his point.
“What can I say about that? People have to play well for the game to last five days. Games are not lasting for five days, even outside India. Yesterday in South Africa, the game got over within three days. [It was the same between South Africa and] Australia as well, in the first Test match. So it’s about skills, people have to adapt. If the pitches are helping the bowlers, batters need to try and test their skills. It’s not about always making sure that we are playing on flat pitches and the results don’t come. In Pakistan, there were three Test matches played and people were saying it’s become so boring. We are making it interesting for you guys,” Rohit quipped at the post-match press conference.
Trust @ashwinravi99 to do the job! A wicket on 2nd ball of Day 3!⚡️
#INDvAUS https://t.co/OO4hGDXwjn
Set just 76 runs for a famous victory, Travis Head (49* off 53) and Marnus Labuschagne (28* off 58) helped Australia overcome the early loss of Usman Khawaja to coast home before lunch on day three.
“This is the kind of pitch we want to play on” – Rohit Sharma
While this win will calm Aussie nerves, the pitch will remain under the microscope. As Australia introduced spin in just the sixth over on the first morning, and the ball turned square, broadcasters and other former cricketers started venting their ire over the same.
Defending the strips being prepared, Rohit Sharma stated that conditions are supposed to favour home teams and rightly so.
“Former cricketers, I don’t think they have played on pitches like this. Like I said, this is the kind of pitch we want to play on and this is our strength. When you are playing at your home, you always play to your strength and not worry about what people outside are talking. We want to play our strengths and our strength is spin bowling and that batting depth.
"Everyone uses that advantage outside, so what’s wrong in that? We got to do that as well and especially when we are getting results. If we are not getting the results, I would think otherwise. But I think we are playing well, we are getting the results we want. Yeah some batters are under pressure, but that’s okay. You cannot have all members of your team in good form, having a great time in the middle – that’s not going to happen,” he elaborated.
There were talks about a seam-friendly deck being curated for the final Test in Ahmedabad, in preparation for the World Test Championship (WTC) final in June. But now that India’s berth isn’t confirmed yet, one shouldn’t be surprised if another dust bowl is dished out.
Rohit reiterated that the pitch shouldn’t have the spotlight, but those who are flourishing in these challenging conditions.
“It’s too early now, we have just finished the Test match. We will go to Ahmedabad and see what we can do there. We’ll have a chat about what went wrong in this game, what we can do well in Ahmedabad and not worry about the pitch. Honestly, this pitch talk is getting too much. Everytime we play in India, the focus is only on the pitch. Why are people not asking me about Nathan Lyon, how well he bowled? How well Pujara batted in the second innings? How well Usman Khawaja played?,” Rohit Sharma remarked.
This victory secures Australia a ticket to The Oval. India, on the other hand, have to win the final Test to guarantee themselves the other slot. In case of a draw or a loss, Sri Lanka will have their tail up against New Zealand. A 2-0 series victory will take Dimuth Karunaratne’s men through.