India captain Rohit Sharma was all praises for the batting unit and lauded them for taking risks after they defeated Bangladesh in the second Test of the series against Bangladesh in Kanpur on October 1, 2024.
On day five morning, Bangladesh resumed on 26/2 and managed 146 runs, mostly thanks to Shadman Islam’s 50 and Mushfiqur Rahim’s 37 runs. Jasprit Bumrah, R Ashwin, and Ravindra Jadeja took three wickets each.
Set 95 runs to win, Yashasvi Jaiswal with 51 and Virat Kohli with 29* ensured India won the match by 7 wickets and pocketed the series 2-0.
Indian skipper Rohit Sharma was elated with the team’s performance to register a whitewash of the tourists in the longest format of the game in new head coach Gautam Gambhir’s first outing in Test whites at the helm of the side.
"In life, we all keep moving on and at some stage, you work with different personnel. When Rahul bhai said he was done, it was a fantastic time we had together. Then life moves on and as a team, we had to move on. With Gautam Gambhir...I've played with him and what sort of mindset he has. Early days still but very fruitful. To be honest, we had to think a lot to keep the game moving forward,” Rohit said in the post-match presentation.
“When we came on day four, we wanted to get them out as early as possible and see what we can do with the bat. It was not about the runs we got but the overs we wanted to bowl at them." Rohit added.
Rohit Sharma also credited the Indian batters for playing ultra-aggressive cricket in the first innings on day four.
After bowling Bangladesh out for 233 in the first innings, India went after their bowling in their first do and put on 285/9d in 34.4 overs. Yashasvi Jaiswal (72 in 51), Rohit Sharma (23 in 11), Shubman Gill (39), Virat Kohli (47 in 35) and KL Rahul (68 in 43 balls) starred with the bat in an unprecedented onslaught.
India managed to break world records for fastest team 100, 150, 200, and 250 in Test cricket with their blistering batting.
"Pitch didn't have much for the bowlers. To make a game out of it on that pitch was a superb effort from the bowlers. And then the batters obviously with that mindset to buy into the thought of going and getting runs as quickly as possible. It was a risk we were willing to take because when you're trying to bat like that, you can be bundled out for a low score. But we were ready for it even if we got bowled out for 100-150. We wanted to give ourselves a chance to be in the game and get a result,” Rohit said.
Rohit Sharma also praised Akash Deep who picked a total of three wickets, but all at crucial points in the Test.
“He's been good. Lot of domestic cricket he has played. When you come up through the ranks like that, there are a lot of overs in the legs. We know the guy can do the job the team is expecting. He has the quality and the skill. Good body as well - can bowl long spells and can bowl quickly as well. That's what the idea is. We want to create a bunch of bowlers who are ready to play. There's too much cricket happening and a lot of injuries and stuff like that. You have to make sure you prepare yourself and prepare your bench strength in a way that if someone is injured, you have someone to replace,” Rohit said.
Indian Test side will now have a few days of rest, while Bangladesh plays three T20Is against Suryakumar Yadav-led T20I team starting October 6.
The next assignment for the Indian Test team will be the 3-match series against New Zealand, starting October 16.
(PTI inputs)
