‘It was the first two overs from the seamers’: Rohit Sharma on the moment that gave India control of the first Test against Australia

India skipper Rohit Sharma’s innings of 120 runs went a long way in securing India’s innings and 132-run victory against Australia in the 1st Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, meanwhile, was the star of the Indian bowling attack in the second innings as he grabbed 5 wickets with the hosts decimated Australia from the get go. Acknowledging the strength of India’s spin department, Sharma had special praise for the seamers who put Australia on the backfoot during their first innings when both Aussie openers departed with just 2 runs on the board.
After the match, when asked about the moment that gave India initial control of the match, Rohit lauded Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj who had Australia wobbling at 2/2 in the first innings after sending both openers Usman Khawaja and David Warner back.
“It was the first two overs from the seamers. Starting a game like that, you’re in the ascendancy. Opposition is under pressure from there. We know we have quality in our spin department. But the seamers can be threatening as well on a pitch like that,” he said.
Talking about the pitch and how he went on about his batting, the skipper said, “The last few years, the kind of pitches we are playing in India, you need to have application and some sort of plan to score runs. I’ve grown up playing a lot in Mumbai on surfaces that turns a lot. You need to be slightly unorthodox as well, use your feet. Need to put pressure on bowlers as well doing something different. And that different could be whatever suits you – using your feet, sweeping, reverse-sweeping.”
The swashbuckling righthander also talked about what the century meant for him and how, after missing a fair few number of Tests, he was ready for this series.
“Happy that I could put the performance for the team. Was unfortunate that I had to miss few Tests because of injuries but I’m happy to be back. Since I was appointed Test captain, have played just two Tests. Got Covid in England, missed South Africa, got a freak injury against Bangladesh. Was ready for this one,” Rohit said.