Rohit: ‘Three hours of bad cricket not going to dictate what this team is’

Rohit Sharma has said that “three hours of bad cricket” do not define this Indian team and it would be unfair to judge his players on the basis of that.

“I am not going to look too much into this Test match honestly because those three hours [when India were bowled out for 46] are not going to dictate what this team is,” Rohit said after India lost the first Test to New Zealand by eight wickets. “Even here, there are a lot of good things that happened as well along with the three-four hours of bad cricket.

“I think it’s important to keep a consistent message in the group, which is that whenever we are put under pressure, we try to make a way into the game in whatever possible way – that is what we have been talking about.

“And we really found a way to come back into this game with the bat in the second innings. Of course, we lost a Test match. That’s why it probably won’t make sense what I am talking about. But I honestly feel there have been a lot of good things that happened in this game. So it’s just about keeping a very calm atmosphere, not to send panic messages.”

After conceding a lead of 356, India made a sterling comeback in the second innings with Rohit and Yashasvi Jaiswal giving them a good start before Virat Kohli and Sarfaraz Khan’s partnership took them forward. And when Rishabh Pant and Sarfaraz joined forces, India started dreaming of the unimaginable – a win.

While that didn’t happen, Rohit was proud of India’s fightback.

“It was brilliant, especially being behind in the game, it is easy to let the game drift away, but that is not what this team is all about. This team wants to stay in the game as long as possible and not give it to the opposition that easily. After day one [two], obviously nothing went our way. We got bowled out for 46 and then they were 190 [180] for 3 and for us the start of that second [third] day was very important, to not let them get too far ahead.

“But that partnership between Rachin [Ravindra] and [Tim] Southee actually just went a little ahead than what we thought. But again, in the second innings with the bat to come out and play like that, it felt like we were ahead in the game at one stage. We didn’t feel like we were 350 [356] behind and that is something that I am really proud of.

“When the guys are showing that kind of attitude on the field with the bat, it shows that the mindset is very clear, and the guys want to go out there and play with freedom and try and see how we can put the pressure back on the opposition. All in all, I thought, except that first couple of hours, three hours, I thought we played a very good Test cricket.”

It was not just the amount runs India scored in their second innings but also how they went about it, scoring at close to four runs an over throughout their innings. When Sarfaraz and Pant were together, they added 177 runs for the fourth wicket off 211 balls. Sarfaraz struck 18 fours and three sixes in his 150, and Pant smashed nine fours and five sixes during his 99.

Rohit said India are not going to change their aggressive attitude, irrespective of whether they are ahead in the game or behind.

“When we are behind the game, that is where you want to press your pedal even more, and try to make an impact, try to not let the opposition know that we are under pressure or we are behind the game. When you are actually behind, you want to try and do extraordinary things and play without any fear. It’s one thing to talk about it, but actually we went out there and played some fearless cricket.

“Some of the shots some of the guys played in the middle knowing that we were 350 behind shows what we have been talking about and what they want to do out there. And that is how it’s going to stay here.

“Even if we find ourselves ahead in the game, we are not going to change our attitude. And on the other side as well, even when we are behind the game, we are going to try to see how we can put the pressure on the opposition. Some of the Test matches we played recently show what I am talking about and that’s how it’s going to be.

“We are not going to fear losing a Test match by changing our mindset. We want to have that consistent mindset of trying to find a way to win Test matches. Even though you are behind in the game, you have to find a way whether it is putting the bowler under pressure or putting the batters under pressure by doing different things.”

India went in with three spinners – R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja – for this Test but the move backfired with the trio not being as penetrative as usual. A key reason behind that was Ravindra, who scored 130 of his 173 runs across two innings against spin at a strike rate of 100. Rohit accepted he was the difference between the two sides.

“In the first innings, I thought whatever we could extract from the pitch, our spinners tried and did everything possible. But some of the shots Rachin played were really, really good and he played very good cricket. He played well against the spinners, they challenged him but you got to give credit to him.

“He understood what our spinners were trying to do and didn’t back off from playing his natural game, which is what gave him the result against our quality spinners. Sometimes it happens where… not sometimes actually, there will be times when some of the batters who come to India will play well against our spinners.

“We saw in the England series, in the first Test match, a couple of their batters got hundreds and even here, Rachin, [Devon] Conway, they played well, put our bowlers under pressure, spinners under pressure by playing different shots which can happen, which we are expecting as well from their batters.

“Anyone who is coming to India now, they are trying to put the pressure on the bowlers by doing different things, different methods but we know exactly what we are supposed to do when a situation like that arises.”