India bowled out Australia for a paltry 91 in the session between lunch and tea on Day 3.
After India took a massive first-innings lead of 223 runs, R Ashwin ran through the Australian batting line-up in their second dig. The veteran off-spinner returned with a five-wicket haul (5/37) as the hosts bundle out the tourists for a mere 91 in the session between lunch and tea on the third day.
“No, I didn’t,” Rohit said in the post-match presser, when asked if he expected the match to end well inside three days.
“We were prepared to have hard day’s bowling, spending session after session. We never thought they would get bowled out in a session.
“As you saw, the pitch became slower and slower and there was no bounce on the pitch, so it was a bit of surprise for me,” he added.
The talk of ‘doctored pitches’ grabbed the headlines before the start of the Nagpur Test. The noise intensified after Australia’s first innings folded for a paltry 177 on Day 1. However, the hosts racked up a massive 400 on the same surface to put all the allegations to rest.
When asked if he found his team to be mentally tougher than Australia, the Indian captain replied: “I don’t know the mental status of the Australian team. I can vouch for our team and we are the ones who want to play on pitches like these and not just from now, we have been playing on pitches like these for last 3-4 years.”
“Because we have all grown up playing on pitches like these, so there is no talk about pitches anymore in the changing room.”
According to Rohit Sharma, preparation is the key to success in every aspect of life.
“I give a lot of credit to training sessions in Civil Lines before we came here. We had four or five net sessions and prepared the kind of pitch we were supposed to get here.
“Whether going down the track or sweeping, reverse sweep, hitting over top, when you prepare well, you get confidence and not just in cricket but everywhere,” he stated.
During the 2020-21 tour of India, India bounced back to win the series after being bowled out for 36 in the opening Test at the Adelaide Oval.
When an Australian reporter asked if their team can turn it around, Rohit said with a smile: “It’s a good question.”
“Australia are always a good team. A lot of guys who played in that series are not there for Australia also. Australia love playing Test cricket and they take pride in representing the country and so we are quite aware of them bouncing back and what they can do as team as well.
“We want to play the cricket we are playing and we would continue to do that in three games that we have. As captain, I need to focus on what we have in Delhi and then move on from there,” he further remarked.
(With PTI Inputs)