India captain Rohit Sharma was on cloud nine as they defeated Australia by innings and 132 runs in the first of the four-Test series in Nagpur in three days and took a lead of 1-0, moving one step closer to the no.1 Test ranking and a berth in the WTC final.
India had resumed on day three with a lead of 144 runs and despite Jadeja getting out early for 70 runs, Akshar Patel added 52 runs with Mohammad Shami (37) and 20 runs with Mohammed Siraj as he made 84 and was the last wicket to fall as the lead had stretched to 223 runs.
In reply, Australia was in no competition as R Ashwin blew away to top order picking wickets of Khawaja, and Warner and then completed his fifer by dismissing Renshaw, Handscomb, and Carey. Jadeja and Shami also picked two wickets each as Steve Smith remained unbeaten on 25 runs, as Australia was bowled out for 91 runs, giving India a huge win.
After the match, Rohit Sharma and Irfan Pathan had a conversation about India’s bowling attack and the captain hilariously revealed that bowlers in his team, whenever they were near a milestone, asked the captain to give him the ball.
“Every one of them is near a milestone. There’s like a milestone every day. Someone is taking 5 wickets, someone takes 250 wickets, someone takes 450 wickets. So every day, someone or the other is getting to a milestone.
I am not really aware of the milestones. These people come and tell me, “Main dhai sau ke pass hoon, mujhe ball de yaar, woh saare chaar sau ke pass hain, mujhe ball de yaar. Mera 4 wicket ho gaya, mujhe 5 chahiye (I am near 250 wickets, give me the ball, he’s near 400, he says give me the ball. I have 4 wickets, need 5),” Rohit was quoted as saying on Star Sports.
For example, Rohit recalled Mohammed Siraj continuously bowling in an ODI against Sri Lanka in a bid to complete his fifer.
“In Trivandrum, Sri Lanka were bowled out I think pretty cheaply and Siraj was on 4 wickets. He bowled 10 overs in those 22 overs because he wanted 5 wickets. He wasn’t stopping so I had to tell him there’s a Test series coming up,” he said.
Rohit Sharma also continued this conundrum of rotating his bowling between Ashwin, Akshar, and Jadeja in the post-match press conference.
“It’s a little tough. They are all reaching their personal milestones. Jadeja was on 249 wickets and he was telling me, ‘mere ko ball de’ (give me the ball). Ashwin was on four wickets and he wanted a five-for and that was the challenge I was facing. I really don’t know too much about milestones but these guys know about it, so yeah that’s the challenge of captaining them rather than deciding which end to give them or not,” said Rohit as everyone had a hearty laugh.
“Again the three guys are quality and, you know, whichever end is more helpful, all these spinners want to bowl from that end. But pressure is always on me to find the right end for the right one,” he signed off.
