Defending his beloved teammates in England for their poor performance so far, discarded right-hand batsmen Rohit Sharma has said that the players in the Virat Kohli led side must be feeling as bad their supporters do for India being 2-0 down in the ongoing Test series. Rohit has urged the need for players to still have faith in their abilities and take that confidence on the field. 

“I know none of the eleven members want to lose. I am sure they must have been hurt by the results. They gave everything but sometimes, it doesn’t happen. I don’t think there was anything that could be done. We tried everything,” Rohit was quoted saying at a promotional event and added, “[England] bowled really well, but our batting was something that let us down. Again, these seven-eight batters have done well in England [in the past]. They have proven themselves. One or two Test matches or three-four innings won’t judge what kind of players they are. They have done it in the past. We have got to believe in them.”

While Rohit thinks India were "outplayed" at Lord's, he has also cautioned the team-management to not make wholesome changes for the rest of the series and further aggravate the problem. 

“[In] the Lord’s Test match, as the captain rightly said, we were outplayed. They were good in all the departments. I thought that the first Test was something we could have pulled off. That was a very close Test match,” he said and added, “[It is] very tough to make changes in between. Whatever changes you do, you must do it at the start. Trying to change a whole lot in middle of the series, would not be a good idea. You can do minor changes, but you cannot do a whole lot.”

Rohit also suggested that batsmen must work hard to try and negate the swing that James Anderson and co are masters of exploring and exploiting. 

He said, "[All] batsman in the squad know their strengths and weaknesses, so what they can do is go back and try and work on that. The English bowlers are more of swing bowlers, so our batsmen can focus on that aspect of the game. It is up to the individuals on how they want to prepare and counter swing bowling." and added, "All the bowlers are trying to swing the ball rather than keeping it fast or bouncy, The batsmen know about it and they are working hard. They can come back in the next Test and put the English bowlers under pressure. In the past, I have seen that when you put them under pressure, most of the team struggle. If we can do it, then nothing like it."

Rohit, having been dropped from the Test side, is desperate to make a comeback. He reiterated this and even expressed that he willing to bat wherever the team wants him to. 

“The sad part is, neither me nor my fans can get me back into the team. It’s the selectors, captain, and coaches who can bring me back. All I would say is that ‘support the team’. It is time to stand by the team. I would like to be in the team, but it is not in my hands,” he said and added, “Look, I have never been offered [to open the innings in Tests] yet but I am open to anything as in whatever the team management wants. I never thought I will be an opener in ODIs when I started playing or when I was playing for India. But it happened along the way, so I [want to] keep my options open. No option is shut for me, so if the opportunity comes, I will take it,”

(Inputs from SPORTSTAR Live)