Rohit marshalled his troops brilliantly to pull off India’s biggest win in Rajkot Test.
Rohit rescued the hosts from a top-order collapse on Day 1 of the Test match by scoring 131 off 196 balls. He also faced a setback after the second day’s play when the senior off-spinner was forced to withdraw from the match due to a family medical emergency.
However, the captain marshalled his troops brilliantly to pull off India’s biggest win in Test cricket (in terms of runs) and take a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.
Reflecting on India’s performance, veteran wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik credited Rohit Sharma for the win.
Karthik also mentioned that Sharma was under-fire with many criticizing his captaincy in the first two Tests, and the win in Rajkot would give him a lot of confidence.
"I would say that this is a statement victory for Rohit Sharma. They did not have Ashwin when they bowled in the first innings of the Test match. That is a big miss in India. In spite of that, he has made this Test match happen. There were few murmurs in the last two Tests that he had not led the team well and at times he let the game drift," Karthik said on Cricbuzz.
"He made a strong comeback in Vizag. In Rajkot Ben Duckett made it really hard for him in the first innings, but he still found a way to comeback. Now add the others, the Rahuls, the Kohlis, the Shamis, the Pants; Rohit has led this team very well and he has found answers to questions that Bazball raised in the first Test match in Hyderabad," he further added.
After the game, Rohit Sharma attributed the team's historic win to the contributions of the young and inexperienced members of the side.
"We knew it's not going to be an easy one for us to just come out here and win the series. We have (had) to work really, really hard, especially with a lot of our front line players missing as well. A lot of credit to these young boys who have come in and showed a lot of character. Looks like they actually belong here and they want to stay here as well," Rohit said in the post-match presser.
The fourth Test between India and England is scheduled to be held in Rajkot from February 23.