Skipper Rohit Sharma on Sunday hailed all-rounder Ravinder Jadeja for his career best performance which enabled India overwhelm Australia in the second test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy here.
The skipper also acknowledged the role of lower order batsmen who have time and again rescued the team to the rescue of the team when top order failed.
Talking to media after the win, Rohit praised Jadeja saying “He’s been brilliant. Comebacks are not easy, but the confidence that guy has in his abilities is massive. You can see it out on the field; there were times he was put under pressure. But there was no sense of panic. He just kept relying on what he’s best at and he kept doing that.”
“Yesterday, he was under pressure as he went for over five runs an over. But he knew exactly what the Australian batters were trying to do and he was confident in his abilities that he can get those guys out under pressure and things like that, because he’s played so much cricket, has 250-plus wickets. So, he knows and he’s got confidence in his abilities and I just have to trust that confidence,”
Jadeja, along with Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel, have spearheaded lower-order challenge with the bat. At Nagpur, Jadeja and Patel made 70 and 84 respectively to pave the way for India taking substantial lead and eventually the win.
Here, Axar scored 74 and his 114-run partnership with Ashwin, (37), for the eighth wicket to bring India on the threshold of taking a lead after being 139/7 at one point in the first innings.
Admitting that trio has played crucial role in India’s win, Rohit said ” It holds us in good stead moving forward, especially in these conditions. But quite happy with the kind of depth we have in our batting, because in pitches like this, you need your batting to go as long as possible,”
These guys come in and they play some shots as well; they are talented and can take on the bowlers as well. That gives you an opportunity to put the pressure back on the opposition. It’s always about creating that balance; with these three guys, it’s a blessing for us because they are damn good bowlers and can bat quite well.”
It’s a big plus to have your batting go as deep as possible. It is something which we have been trying to get for so many years, to get batting depth as deep as possible. Luckily, in these three guys, we have that. It gives you that advantage as well when bowlers are a little tired after bowling 60-70 overs.
Asked about KL Rahul’s poor form, He said there has been a lot of talk about Rahul’s prolonged lean patch and opined that the batter needs to devise his own methods of scoring runs on slow turners.
When you are playing on pitches like these, you need to find your methods of scoring runs,” Rohit said about Rahul, adding that “the methods of scoring runs against spinners on turners will differ from batter to batter.
Different individuals are part of this team and they will have different methods of scoring runs. We are not going to look too much into what one individual is doing. It is about how everyone needs to come together.’
“It is a big series for us, so yeah that is my thought on KL,” he said adding However, Rahul’s potential is something that can’t be overlooked,
“It is not just about KL, but anyone. If you look at couple of hundreds, he got outside India (England 2021 and SA 2022), one of the best I have seen from KL, especially the one at the Lord’s.)
“Batting on that damp pitch in England, (that too) after losing the toss and put in to bat is never easy. He (Rahul) put a great performance there and Centurion was another one. India won both those games. That is the potential he has,” Rohit said
He also said that the team management (captain and coach Rahul Dravid) has advised him to play his natural game.”Of late there have been talks… it was clear from our side that we want him to go out and play his game.”